ILYA -References

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Sansei Kai medical corporation, which operates a range of facilities including Horie Hospital, Kibo no Sono elderly care facility, the Ota City home care support center Horie, and the visiting service center Minami, opened a new 61-bed elderly care home “Rappers Ota” in Gunma Prefecture. (Design by Ishii Sekkei; Construction by Ishikawa Kensetsu).

ILYA assisted in the selection and purchasing of all furniture, artwork, interior elements, and tableware for the new facility, and developed a model room to display the comfort of this living environment, which was well-received by both the facility management and the families of the residents.


This project involved redesign of signage for the Hara Museum ARC in the Ikaho Green Bokujo in Shibukawa, GunmaPrefecture. The ARC is an impressive black wooden barn-like structure set in a natural landscape. Signs were designed to be low to the ground, to complement the pastoral setting and avoid visual interruption of the broad open spaces. The square elements, patterns and colors were integrated into a modular design to harmonize with but not disappear into the pasture and greenery.


This signage, for a site in an industrial park on TokyoBay near the Tokyo Disney Resort, was designed to take full advantage of the seaside location, and to instill a sense of fun and excitement to staff and visitors. The mural in the three-story entrance features a graphic designed using the CMYK ink color gamut and evokes images of printing press gears and the Tokyo bay seascape. The crisp finish used on the printing and the new image helped to create an enjoyable feel throughout the entire workplace.


This advanced glassmaking facility is in operation 24 hours a day making world-leading specialty glass products. Commisioned in November 2004 after the Chuetsu Earthquake, ILYA’s goal was to design a facility which would contribute to the revitalization of the region. A bold graphic mural design and yellow viewing balcony were created to achieve a sense of activity and expansive space. Interiors include striped graphics and bright coloring to portray the image of glass, with the goal of creating a space that is comfortable even in the region’s harsh winters.


ILYA designed and developed the signage system for the new business headquarters and printing plant of Shindo Co., Ltd., the fine art printers based in Ryogoku. Giving full play to the atmosphere of the company's shitamachi locale—the traditional artisan, shopping and entertainment districts that gave Edo so much of its character—and aiming to express Shindo's philosophy of always working with their clients, the system features a monotone palette and grid of dots to harmonize with the surrounding environment and play off of the light and shadow unique to the area, a brownish-red hue reminiscent of Edo culture and tradition, and integrates the Shindo logo as the principle graphic element with the architecture.

Willmark Kashiihama is a new form of senior citizen apartment housing / assisted living, promoted by Fukuoka Jisho Senior Life Co., Ltd. Built in a residential section of the City of Fukuoka, the complex is characterized by its hotel-like interiors and substantial services.

ILYA was responsible for interior design supervision and the selection and procurement of furniture and fixtures on this project, and for their contribution to raising the quality of the facility overall, ILYA received the Owner's Award.

Nikkei Shimbun and the New Office Promotion Association presented their 17th annual awards honoring "comfortable and functional offices", with three ILYA-related office projects receiving Nikkei New Office Awards: Shiodome Media Tower and TMI Associate (located on the 23 floor of Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills) for which ILYA was responsible for the interior design, and the Shiseido Shiodome Offices (Shiodome C block) for which ILYA handled the selection and procurement of furniture. Of 92 entries, 12 offices received Nikkei New Office Awards.

The Japan Sign Design Association presented their 38th annual SDA Awards honoring high-quality signage design that sets new industry standards. The Okamoto Glass Company's thin film facilities, for which ILYA designed the signage and building coloration, received a 2004 SDA Award. Seeing the factory as a vehicle for expressing Okamoto's corporate identity, we used glass as a motif in a clear and simple design solution that creates workspace pleasant to work in. Okamoto Glass Company's Thin Film Division develops and manufactures "cold light" glass products such as reflectors for projectors, automobile headlights and dental mirrors.

Under the direction of Sony producer Takahisa Hirayama, ILYA was responsible for the theme-based interior design "integrating sound, digital imagery, and interior space." (see "What's New" for details)

Planned under the direction of NTT Urban Development's Masayuki Kusumoto, as a collaborative project between NTT Urban Development + Nissoken Architects/Engineers (architectural design/supervision), Nakatani Koichiro Studio (landscape architecture), Hiroyasu Shoji (lighting design) and ILYA (interior design).
The project considers permanence a criterion for next generation urban housing, incorporates exterior materials that enhance with age, a courtyard with plants that express seasonal changes and indirect lighting to create a soft nighttime setting, and inter interior/exterior spatial composition.The project was highly regarded "as a prototype for horizontal, low-rise housing, and the thoughtful detailing of the balcony edges."

Photo by Koji Okumura

Photo by Manabu Morishima

Upon the relocation of their offices to Mori Tower, the symbol of Roppongi Hills, TMI Associates appointed ILYA as their interior designers.
With a staff of over 200, including more than 80 attorneys, patent attorneys, and legal professionals, TMI Associates is new style law firm unprecedented in Japan.
Making optimal use of Mori Tower's distinctive elliptical floor plan, we succeeded in creating unique, highly advanced law office facilities. Thus upon completion we received a letter of appreciation from the firm commending us for our "creative efforts applying superlative sensibilities to the design of office space with functional aesthetics that make it an optimal intellectual environment."

PCCW Japan Studio was awarded the 2002 Good Design Award in the architecture and environment design category. A comprehensive good design selection system, the "G-Mark System" was established in 1957 by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and restructured in 1998 as the Good Design Award. The project evaluation: "Cavernous, unused event-hall space successfully recycled as a studio. Hailed for the simultaneous building of a sophisticated, extensive LAN environment together with the renovation of the space as a new studio." This was ILYA's first Good Design submission and award.

The Mainichi Newspapers Kyushu Center Kitakyushu Factory, which began full operation in February 2002 as the printing and distribution center of the Mainichi Newspapers Company Western division, is equipped with the newest and most powerful printing presses to provide faster, more colorful printed pages. Kajima Design was responsible for the architecture, and ILYA for the exterior and interior coloring and signage design. The design centers around bold coloration of the printing presses and the machinery, with Mainichi Newspapers' "intelligent blue" as the main color, and generous use of the logotype to make the factory an expression of the corporate identity and create a space that is pleasant to work in.

Nikkei Shimbun and the New Office Promotion Association presented their 15th annual awards honoring comfortable and functional offices this year. Of 104 entries, PCCW Japan Studio was among ten offices to be honored with the top Nikkei New Office Award by the twelve-member jury which included architect Kiyonori Kikutake.
According to a review in the Nikkei Shimbun on August 21: "...A highly functional studio and office was created from the former high-ceiling event/exhibition space. ...The cafe kitchen that links the studio and office forms a place for communication and relaxation. In addition to the selection of wall colors, the use of glass partitions to separate meeting and other rooms in a building without windows, conveys an openness about the company. The office itself acts as a medium that expresses the company's identity."

In July 2000 Hotel Nikko Bayside Osaka, under construction next to Universal Studios Japan, conducted the Hotel Nikko International Interior Design Competition via the interenet. The site's official requirements page registered approximately 4500 hits, and of 58 entries, including 8 from 4 foreign countries, the proposal by ILYA's Hisato Murai was awarded first place. Owned by Sougou Shouji, operated by JAL Hotels, architectural design by Murai and Partners, Ltd., the 32 story, 641room hotel is scheduled to open in April 2002. 'Fly to the dream' - the airship-like, modern hotel is soon to open.

Under the design supervision of NTT Facilities, ILYA was responsible for the interior and graphic design of the mobile cafe Acqua, which opened in April, and the NTT DoCoMo Saitama Showroom, located respectively on the second and third floors of the NTT DoCoMo Saitama building. The environmental graphics of both facilities were selected for Japan Sign Design Association (SDA) Awards in the environmental graphics category of the commercial division. Symbolic of the communications media's ability to transcend a variety of boundaries, the design theme "aqua - aero" was expressed as an airy and comfortable atmosphere. The synergistic effect from fusing interior and graphics creates a space that gives the experience of rising from aqua to floating on aero.

When the LG Group, one of South Korea's top three conglomerates, built their second corporate headquarters in the Kangnam district of Seoul, they nominated ILYA for the interior design of the special facilities. In 1998, owner LG Mart elected 10 design firms from Japan and the US, from which the jury chose ILYA based on their proposal and interview. Selected from a number of American and European architectural firms, SOM Chicago designed the 38 story highrise building and arts center (theatre). ILYA was responsible for the schematic design of the sky lounge, auditorium, event hall, and various restaurants; Min Associates of South Korea executed the detail design and documentation. Upon completion of the project in November 1999, LG Mart awarded ILYA the Owner's Award for their role as one of the principal designers of LG Kangnam Tower.

In June 2008, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation relocated its Shanghai Branch offices to floors 11-13 of the Shanghai World Financial Center, a building that's attracted a lot of interest in Shanghai. It gave us a great deal of pleasure to open these offices, which also serve as the company's regional headquarters for the rapidly expanding Chinese market, in this landmark building in Pudong, an area that's come to be regarded as the financial and commercial hub of China.
The technical expertise of Kajima (Shanghai) Construction Co., Ltd., a local subsidiary of Japan's Kajima Corporation, and the design expertise of ILYA Corporation were instrumental in seeing this project through to a successful conclusion.
We're particularly pleased with the entrance with its curvilinear emphasis, a feature that was designed to be both bold and subtle while making effective use of the building's distinctive sense of expansiveness. The results exceeded our expectations.
We would like to commend the work of the Project Designer, Yoshikage Noguchi, who was responsible for the design, and the Project Director, Makoto Ishida, who was in charge of the overall coordination of the project.

Kozo Masaki
Chairman of the Board
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (China) Limited

I hope this letter will find you well. I am happy to announce that the renovation project of the Jinglun Hotel, whose design was undertaken by your company, completed in success in the middle of August last year. Since its opening after the refurbishment, our reputation among many guests in all walks of life as well as our peers went up. And we believe it is due mainly to newly designed hardware and facilities in quest of convenience and comfort, along with a good appearance of the hotel. The refurbishment also brought the hotel a rich business atmosphere, and helped us enhance the quality of management, as well as our competitiveness in the market. Our shareholders and Hotel Nikko Head Office are very satisfied with the renovation, particularly its new design and style, and also with our standing in the market.
Today, representing the hotel, I express my deepest respect and gratitude for Mr. Tadokoro and his fellow designers, Mr. Murai, Mr.Omori as well as Ms. Lu Tong, for having paid careful attention to every single detail of the project, for having maintained sincere and constructive manners, for their innovative spirits, and also for their meticulousness throughout the renovation process. I would be grateful if you could kindly convey my profound gratitude to every one of them.
Lastly, I hope ILYA CORPORATION would continue to produce greater architectural works into the future, and wish that I could work with you again in the not-so-distant future.
Again, I thank you very much for everything ILYA CORPORATION has done for the renovation of Jinglun Hotel.

Sincerely yours,

Zuo Xiang
Former Managing Director
Jinglun Hotel, Beijing

In September 2005, Sembikiya-Sohonten Co., Ltd., which was originally founded it 1835, opened its new flagship store on the first and second floors of Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, a symbol of the redevelopment of the Nihonbashi area constructed as part of a joint venture with Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. The opening of the new store, which takes pride of place beneath the vast atrium designed by architects Cesar Pelli and Associates, was an ideal opportunity for Sembikiya-Sohonten to introduce a fresh new design that would epitomize the evolution of the company's brand in the 21st century.
At the request of Sembikiya-Sohonten, the interior designers endeavored to use materials, colors, and lighting that would emphasize the colors and freshness of the fruit, but at the same time create a space that would provide a sense of the tradition and elegance for which the brand is famous. The design also incorporates playful elements likely to be found only in a fruit store, such as furniture made using timber from mango trees and coconut palms.
The first floor fruit and flower shop was designed with the term "fruit museum" as the key word. Warmth was added to the contemporary design by using natural materials such as wood and stone, and a sense of luxury and tradition created by cleverly incorporating into the design references to the more than 170-year history of the company in the form elegant silver leaf and shop signs from the early Showa period, which were framed and displayed on the walls.
The second floor fruit parlor and restaurant is a diverse space with a layout offering open counter seating as well as tables and chairs and sofas to meet the varied needs of customers, as well as a museum space where post-war ration coupons and other items of historical interest are on show. A chandelier with crystal beads manufactured by Swarovski hangs in the atrium, adding a touch of glamour to the entire dining area.
Sembikiya pioneered the introduction of fruit as a new form of food culture in Japan, and over the years we have dedicated ourselves to popularizing and establishing fruit as an integral part of the Japanese diet, something we remain committed to in the 21st century. We are committed to ensuring Sembikiya remains a brand that customers can rely on to inject "a new level of luxury" into their daily lives by offering the freshest, choicest fruits and other produce from around the world.
We commissioned ILYA to carry out the interior design work at the new store, and were extremely satisfied with their brilliant spatial rendition of the "new level of luxury" concept. We appreciate in particular the efforts of the project leader Mr. Nakamura, Mr. Kenjo, Ms. Sasaki, and all the staff members who met with us time and time again to discuss the project and took on board and realized our many requests.

Hiroshi Oshima
Sixth generation President
Sembikiya-Sohonten Co., Ltd.

ILYA played a number of roles in the planning and development of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, which celebrated its grand opening at the end of 2005.
Most notably, the project management and interior design development services they provided for the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, the building's main tenant, made full use of their wealth of experience and coordination skills to bring the project to successful completion and wholly satisfy all parties involved.
As a result of ILYA's repeated, hard negotiations with Mandarin Oriental affiliates from the standpoint of our company as our representatives and of maintaining unerring control over external staff including interior designers and lighting, IT and kitchen consultants, we the building owners and our hotel tenant were able to set our sights with confidence on achieving a common goal: to create a top-class hotel destined to be legendary.
ILYA also demonstrated their superb design strengths at the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower in retail environment design and interior design for our executive offices.
I have personally worked with ILYA on other projects as well, and know them always to do work that thoroughly satisfies their clients. ILYA's wealth of talents and comprehensive strengths are truly astonishing.

Shinji Kobayashi
General manager
Building Business Division, Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

ILYA participated as purchasing agents on the Grand Hyatt Tokyo project, which opened in Roppongi in 2004.
Their broad-spectrum PA services began with determining the budget for FFE (furniture, furnishing and equipment) and covered reading and sorting the designers' specs and preparing the necessary drawings; researching and analyzing suppliers; directing and supervising production; budget management and purchasing; supervising on-site preparation and installation; and completing the as-built design drawings and specifications. In every step of the process they demonstrated full use of their maneuverability, accuracy, and coordination abilities. Moreover, I appreciated their creative advice. I might add that their competence and performance reflected the additional of experience gained since I worked with them on the Park Hyatt Tokyo ten years back.
The Grand Hyatt project was extremely complex, in that it involved the work of three top designers and underwent several changes along the way. Without ILYA's concerted efforts, I'm not sure we would have been able to proceed on schedule, stay with budget and open without a hitch.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend ILYA for any project, and on behalf of the Hyatt, look forward to the opportunity to call on their services again.

Akio Nakata
Director of Technical Services
Hyatt (Japan) Co., Ltd.

ANA Hotel Hiroshima opened its doors in 1983 as the seventh in the ANA chain of hotels.
We subsequently worked to become one of the region's most desirable hotels, but as aging facilities made us increasingly less able to respond to the needs of the times or compete with newer hotels, we embarked on overhauling our facilities and services based on the theme "re-creation." In a move that was rare in the industry, we shut down operations to renovate virtually all of our facilities and improve hotel infrastructure.
Having worked with ILYA in the past on our banquet hall and restaurant renovations, and very pleased with their solutions to our concept of "a space in which adult customers will feel relaxed and comfortable," we had high expectations for their performance on this large-scale renovation project.
Their use of wood-grain finishes in the lobby, banquet hall and guest rooms gave the contemporary spaces a relaxing yet dignified feeling, and especially with the sculptural object used to screen off the lounge and the marble flooring, the lobby was transformed into a richly textured yet cohesive space.
ILYA's work is to be commended not only for its design contributions, but also for its attention to functional details seen from the perspective of the hotel: something essential to effectiveness in the service industries.
I am grateful to the members of the project team for their experience-rich and comprehensive services, including on-site supervision of a very tight construction schedule.

Yutaka Ikeda
Senior Vice President, General Manager
ANA Hotel Hiroshima Co., Ltd.

Poppins Corporation operates 30 childcare centers in major Japanese cities. We base our services on corporate objectives: to provide support for childrearing, build mother and child-friendly communities, and provide quality care for the elderly. In addition our company-owned government-licensed nurseries, we receive commissions to design childcare rooms within corporations and organizations exercising our unique professional perspective. Unlike conventional nurseries, which tend to focus solely on function and safety and lack originality, we choose a different theme for each nursery and strive to create interior environments that will awaken the aesthetic sensibilities of the highly sensitive children that spend long hours in these facilities.
ILYA immediately understood and shared our ideas, carefully addressed our requests, and proposed new ways of thinking which were concretely expressed in their work. This was particularly apparent in the daycare room they developed within Shiseido's corporate offices, which brilliantly embodies the Shiseido aesthetic as we conveyed it to them. Furthermore, for our company-owned Tokyo government-licensed Poppins Nursery First Avenue project, they provided comprehensive services, including design, engineering, and construction management, allowing us to open without a hitch despite an inordinately tight schedule. I humbly thank the project leader Mr. Matsumoto and his entire team for their roles in making this happen.

Daisuke Yanai
Director of Planning
Poppins Corporation

Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

was established in 1992 as a pioneer offering Internet connectivity as a commercial service. Today we offer a diverse range of services including Internet connectivity, security, email systems, IDC, systems integration, operations and management as total network solutions to primarily high-end corporate customers.
While this was our first project with ILYA, we contracted them for total project management of our office relocation, which covered facility programming (FP), interior design, construction management, move coordination and restoring the offices at our former location, with which we successfully made a smooth transition into our new offices.
The interior design has been very extremely received and the overall image of our group highly improved: the general reception area very effectively incorporates

accents into an other simple, neutral-tone spatial structure; the glass-enclosed meeting rooms with roomy sofas are light and comfortable, extending hospitality to guests.
Moreover, ILYA drew upon their extensive database and negotiatory powers to effect astounding cost control, for which we are deeply grateful.

Yasuhiro Nishi
Director, CFO
Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

Confronted with the mandate from our top management of determining how to rid ourselves of the conventional hard image of the head office of a bank, and express the concept of our new corporate brand, I had reached an impasse. What's more, the date of our move was already set, and time was short. Corporate branding for banks nowadays encompasses a wide range of concepts: soundness, innovation, expertise, friendliness, speed, composure, openness, sociality and so on. Add to that, living in harmony with nature.
ILYA provided clear solutions to this difficult problem. We commissioned ILYA for the interior design and construction management of the entrance, the branch's face and the customer's point of contact with the bank; the teller's window lobby; the reception floor; and the executive floor.
The entrance has the composure expected of a business environment; the teller's window lobby layout reflects customers' needs, fusing nature and finance technology; the reception and executive floors express dignity, openness, activity, and communication respectively. The space also expresses the youthful qualities of a financial institution reborn. We held numerous meetings to determine the design. I vacillated between wanting to go with the proposed design, and worrying about being too radical. But having trusted ILYA's judgment, I am most satisfied.
I feel fortunate to have encountered ILYA, and would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude once again.

Hirokazu Takino
Executive director, General Administration Division
Aozora Bank,LTD

Sunshine 100 is a Chinese private sector real estate development company primarily involved in the development and sales of condominium apartments for emerging business people in major Chinese cities. To date we have developed properties in six cities -- Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Jinan, Nanning, and Liuzhou -- totaling over 4 million square meters in floor area.
To fulfill our quest to offer sophisticatedly designed residential properties, we have commissioned talented architects and designers from all over Europe, Australia and Japan.
ILYA was responsible for the interior design of the common areas and fitness gym in our recently opened 1000-unit residential complex in Beijing, and for design coordination of the model room for our complex in Jinan. We were more than satisfied with all of their services. These apartments, targeted for young business people and middle class residents, are selling remarkably well, representing a boost in development for us over recent years.

Yi Xiaodi
General Manager
Beijing Yin Xin Guang Hua
Real Estate Development Pty. Ltd.

The process of opening Brasserie L'écrin in the new ATRE Ueno complex at Ueno Station took longer than anticipated because of continuously difficult work and numerous restrictions.
We feel fortunate, however, to have had ILYA design the space and supervise construction; their superb teamwork and timely and accurate judgment was a large factor in the creation of a restaurant that we are ultimately very happy with.
While I know that the theme-infusing a seventy-year-old building with a modern sensibility-presented a very difficult task for the design team, as I gaze at our dining room and the customers that fill it day after day, I feel the space already has the natural, comfortable atmosphere of a restaurant that has been running for years. We are very pleased with the intelligent and creative way in which the criteria we set at our many meetings during the design phase were reflected.
I am certain that ILYA's professional design team would invariably produce similarly excellent results on future projects with completely different conditions and themes as well.

Takashi Yura
General Manager, L'écrin

http://www.lgmart.co.kr/

Contact ILYA if you want a new approach to interior design.
Visit the restaurants in LG Kangnam Tower in southern Seoul and see for yourself. As the chief of construction headquarters for the LG Kangnam Tower project, I worked closely with ILYA on the interior design of the Tower restaurants and convention hall. I was very impressed with the modern design concepts, the international design sensibility, and the passion for the project that ILYA exhibited. The ILYA design team executed one of the best design products with flawless teamwork on the part of highly capable individuals, in a limited period. Their thorough project management skills also ensured top quality implementation. As a natural result, the restaurants in LG Kangnam Tower are now among the most renowned in Seoul. I would like to express my appreciation again to all of the ILYA project team members and special thanks Ms. Nakagome for all she contributed to this project.

Joung Hyun Bai / Vice President
LG Mart Co., Ltd. Seoul, Korea

http://www.pccwj.co.jp/

I have previous experience in constructing Studios. However, this Studio Project is my first involvement in building a complex space from ground zero to facilitate both production / broadcast facilities and office space accommodating 150 staff. In order to produce the best results within the given limited timeframe and unique nature of the site, choosing the appropriate design firm with extensive expertise was very important. The designers are required to approach the project from the perspectives of the client, and are required to have a strong desire to actualize the ideal working environment.
We invited seven firms for the competition. Each firm was required to express our corporate images through the concept design : refined open space promoting creativity, imagination and professionalism. However, the design has to meet our budget and building codes. Among the bidders, ILYA was the most successful in presenting the overall concept.
We were uneasy at outset. In order to meet specific M&E requirement within the tight schedule, studio system integrator, IT contractors, and the other contractors had to work in collaboration led by the careful coordination. The designers spent sleepless nights to complete the project. Thanks to their effort, our brand new state-of-art facility was successfully completed. We were grateful of the persistent effort that ILYA had provided.

Risa Villeneuve
Senior Manager / Broadcasting Operation & Engineering

A research organization pursuing next-generation human interfaces, the Sony CSL interaction laboratory researches and develops user technology for what we call "real-world interfaces" i.e. user interfaces for the era in which digital equipment in the living environment is ubiquitously linked to the internet. In the concept we proposed for this project, we wanted the interaction lab's new office floor to manifest the character of the lab's research : to be an "experimental environment," as opposed to merely providing work space for researchers. Among other things, we wanted the lab's basic infrastructure to provide a "free-access" ceiling to which computers, sensors, projectors, and other equipment could be easily mounted and removed, and wall panels that could be used as whiteboards and projection screens to facilitate discussion among research staff. ILYA's design team clearly understood the intent behind our experimental demands that departed from common design practices applied in offices to date, and created a collaboration that we felt transcended a simple client-design firm relationship. To this day, we continue work in the laboratory space that incorporates experimental systems, and this experiment continues to be of great interest to the human interface community and beyond.

Jun Rekimoto, D.Sci
Director, Interaction Laboratory