SEE SEA Park / Osamu Morishita Architect & Associates

Architects: Osamu Morishita Architect & Associates
Area: 2740 m²
Year: 2022
Photographs: Tomoki Hahakura
Manufacturers: Tra-k
Lead Architect: Osamu Morishita
Structure: KAP
Architects: Tomoya Sugiura
Facility: Kenchiku Setsubi Sekkei Kenkyushu
Construction Architecture: Araki
City: Oi
Country: Japan

SEE SEA Park in Ohi-town, Fukui prefecture, is designed by Osamu Morishita Architect & Associates to create a comfortable gathering space that harmonizes with the natural environment. Selected through a local competition, the project focuses on fostering innovation in a “challenge shop.” The design emphasizes spatial density and familiarity, drawing inspiration from rural village houses. The park’s buildings utilize a unique system of air-filled “Units” covered with transparent ETFE, similar to a down jacket, which stabilizes the internal environment by exchanging energy with the outside. The design rejects conventional energy-saving methods, opting for an open, flexible structure that connects with nature and culture, allowing diverse activities to thrive. The roof, composed of 72 units and ETFE skylights, integrates with the landscape while managing heat and light efficiently.

See sea park / osamu morishita architect & associates

Ohi-town in Fukui prefecture is characterized by the soothing sounds of Higurashi (clear-toned) cicadas and is situated on well-maintained coastal reclaimed land, connecting the sea and the mountainous area. The concept for SEE SEA Park was to create a comfortable environment for people to gather. This project was selected through a competition held by the local government, with the main requirement to develop a “challenge shop” where people can innovate and develop new businesses.

The design emphasizes drawing people to the architecture without relying on unique shapes that simply catch the eye. Instead, the focus is on creating a difference in density by gathering homogeneous spatial units, fostering diversity within an ordered structure. The aim was to create a space reminiscent of rural private houses in a village, generating an attractive spatial density that harmonizes with the topography and feels familiar to people’s activities.

Buildings at SEE SEA Park absorb and store solar energy, sometimes releasing heat. In sync with the earth’s thermal conditions, there is a unit that holds air in the upper layer. The atmosphere on the earthen floor that once existed in traditional Japanese houses is lightly reproduced in modern times. Instead of using tiled roofs with large heat capacity or thatched roofs that hold air, the design uses an accumulation of “Units” composed of air masses covered with transparent ETFE (fluoropolymer film), similar to a down jacket. This system exchanges energy with the outside and stabilizes the internal environment of the lower layer. Sunlight diffuses inside through a structural prism of cedar louvers, filling the interior with round light.

Rather than following the conventional energy-saving approach that isolates the environment from the outside with highly insulated and airtight walls, the design aims for an open-type, gentle environmental control that connects with the natural atmosphere and surrounding culture. The “Unit” structure embraces air and forms a flexible truss supporting a large space, allowing endless expansion. These units are connected perennially, enabling diverse activities to flourish underneath.

Incorporating the metaphor of a house into the composition, the design creates a space that feels open and familiar. The roof’s random geometric pattern, formed by 72 units, 15 trees, and ETFE skylights, integrates into a monocoque membrane surface covering the entire roof. Although ETFE has almost no insulation performance, it radiates heat accumulated in the unit to the surroundings. Like a down jacket, the thin outer skin wrapping the feathers (air masses) allows energy to be stored and breathed through it.