An Office in Japan with a Curved Floating Rooftop to Hang out On

Sanno’s Office is a minimalist office space located in Aichi, Japan, designed by Studio Velocity.

The wooden two-story office building features a large, curved floating rooftop space that gently wraps upward on the edges, providing moderate privacy in an otherwise dense residential neighborhood.

The dish-like structure is constructed of a thin cross-sectioned array of laminated wooden beams engineered to take the weight of up to 150 people. The roof was designed to have tension on the lower vertical pillars gradually decreasing as more people occupy the space.

The tension is sensitive enough where small vibrations can be felt when walking across the roof. The wooden tensions, while seemingly sporadically arranged throughout the studio, are positioned parallel with the arrangement of the furniture and overall flow of the space.