Located in the heart of Kyoto, where Gion Festival, the major summer festivity in Kyoto, takes place every year, this hotel is an accommodation-specific hotel in a convenient location as a tourist base. The eaves and vertical louvers that characterize the design of a traditional kyo-machiya, wooden townhouses in Kyoto, are expressed with modern materials such as concrete and steel with kawara roof tiles, giving continuity to the town’s landscape.
Taking advantage of the depth of the site, which is a feature of Japanese townhouses, a tsuboniwa, or a spot garden, was placed in the east-west direction of the building. Tourists entering from the street are separated from the bustling outside and drawn into the calm hospitality space through the path set alongside the garden. The floor is raised at the window side of the second-floor guestrooms facing Shinmachi Street, and the louvers can be opened to enjoy the festival floats with decorative halberd called Yamaboko going by which is the main event of the Gion Festival.