The Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu by Nomura Co., Ltd./ A.N.D.
The Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu is the conversion project that aimed to inherit, harmonize with surrounding environment and re-recognize the Japanese beauty of former Kiyomizu Elementary School, which has 90 years of history remained in Kyoto, into a 4 stories hotel with total floor area of approximately 6,800 square meters.
The hotel is in the mountain side with great view, located in the district where has a number of historical sites including important cultural assets of Kyoto Higashiyama where has been nurtured by eternal history.
It was named with the combination of two elements: ‘Kyoto Kiyomizu’, one of the world-famous tourist destination, and ‘Seiryu’ which has been believed as a guardian god of Higashiyama region, aiming to transmit this one-and-only hotel that takes advantage of the characteristics of this region and historically valuable former elementary school to the world.
The school building is designed with delicate details. Not only western-style elements such as Spanish tiles, arched windows and double-width tiles, but also decorative haunch beams, wooden spandrel wall and mosaic tile finish stairs inside.
While paying the utmost respect to the western architecture and its historical interior space, we intended to blend nostalgia and newness. In order to outstand the historical details such as corridors, beams and stairs, we selected discreet inorganic, black and white and semi-glossy materials.
We redesign the former auditorium and gymnasium, where school children used to run around, into a restaurant and spa. Furthermore, we reborn the former roof of the school building where overlooking Kyoto city as the significant rooftop bar of the hotel. Guests can imagine the old times by enjoying the same scenery of Yasaka Pagoda, beautiful mountain and city of Kyoto, which the former school children used to see.
Other than that, we realized the concept of ‘Imprint the memories and connect to the future’ by placing artworks that relates to Kyoto and the former elementary school everywhere in the school building, and also creating a space where guests enable to view the photographs and materials related to the time and the records of its construction.
The assemblance of spaces reburned with different stories based on memories successfully creates a ‘heritage hotel’ where history, region and architecture reverberates with each other.
We strongly believe that this project plays a significant role to think about what kind of future we can leave for future children in order to transmit Japanese culture and to inherit it sociality and regionality, like current children pass on to the next generation when they become parents.
