TORAFU ARCHITECTS was involved in the renovation of PMQ, a design facility in Hong Kong. A new design venture was carried out using MUJI storage furniture.

PMQ was created in the spring of 2014 in the Soho District as a newHong Kong landmark.The facility used to be apartments for familiesof police officers. The renovated building now houses offices, studios,shops, and restaurants. In one area is a space for designers in residence.TORAFU ARCHITECTS was in charge of renovating threerooms.

“To divide the dining and bedroom, in the PALETTE room, unit shelves were placed in an L shape and an arch-shaped joint used. Unit shelvesare great because they are constructed of thin wire, so even large sizes won’t overwhelm the room.”Special-order parts were made with stainless steel and MDF (fibreboard)for an experimental design that combines shelves with a back panel thatdraws the eye.“We gave the rooms a delightful collection of palette colours that changed the feel of the material and colour scheme. The rooms are meant for young designers to stay in and work, so we incorporated a sense of the extraordinary.”

The other two rooms are also extraordinary. Both humorous functionality and radical experimentalism quietly exist together in the FREE BOXES room that hangs stacking shelves＊ from the ceiling, and the ISLAND room that has moveable furniture made with the same stacking shelves.＊

“How should modularized products be used in a space? That is a question that can be said to be shared not only in the world of architecture and design, but in ordinary life as well.”

*The stacking shelf measurements are different from ordinary specifications.

PALETTE

ISLAND