Creative Real Estate

From a book store to a lifestyle space Japanese book store Tsutaya put in their hand to propose a lifestyle suggestion. Tsutaya is not only a place for reading, but also a place to break down the boundaries of shopping. Tsutaya, a book franchise brand for the company 'CCC (Culture Convenience Club)', is a multi-package store offering books and other related products at the same time. As of 2018, it operates more than 1,400 stores across Japan. ▲ Ginza Six, Tsutaya (Image Credit : Sybilla Patrizia ) The target customer of Tsuyada Daikan Yama Store is Takaishi, middle-aged person between 50 and 65 years old. Tsutaya organized their bookstores, record shops, video shops, cafes to suit the tastes of this generation. Main themes are about humanities, literature, art, hobbies, architecture, design, cooking and travel. With the aim of a demographically granular market, they were able to provide products, services and experiences that matched their customers' ne

Regeneration of useless space  As time progresses, the places that once played crucial role for decades sometimes have fallen into the scourge of the city. However, when redeveloping these spaces, the reminiscences of the past occasionally serves as a strong points enhancing the value of space. There are variety of 'rejuvenation projects' that are born again as completely new spaces from double-binded one.  Recently in London, a project is underway to regenerate the entire thermal power plant that once provided power to the entire city. Battersea, which was built in 1939 in London's Wandworth District, had served as London's main power source for about 45 years until the shutdown of the power plant in 1983. It was left untouched for over 20 years.  ▲ Battersea Power Station (Image Credit : What's On)  In 2004, the city of London set up a development plan for this area. At that time, the land price itself was so high that it had a difficulty attracti

Ruined city became art  Bilbao once was a industry hub of Northern Spain with the discovery of iron ore mines during the Industrial Revolution. The port of Bilbao was always crowded with the boats and ships. Bilbao, one-time small city for the Santiago pilgrims stopover, has grown unprecedentedly at that time.  But the glory did not last long. The steel industry, which was the main industry of Bilbao, began to fall into a path of rapid decline after 1980. The subsequent terrorism by Basques separatist left a big scar on Bilbao. Those who gathered for money left the city, and empty ironworks and harbors were ruined and left neglected. Resurrect the city of ruins  In the late 1990s, small movements began to rebuild the city among citizens who could no longer afford the city's wretchedness. Most urgent and important thing was to deal with the old harbor which remained like a monster.  They moved the old harbor, which remained near the city center, to the outskirts

Nicolas G. Hayek Center's retail innovation techniques   Many leading fashion houses' flagship stores  are located in Ginza with the highest concentration of Western shops in Tokyo. Ginza is one of two locations in Tokyo considered to be the best locations for a luxury goods  store.  Nicolas G.Hayek Center is located on the street bi-directionally in Ginza with a green vegetation rising up the wall. This building is used both as headquarter and flagship store of Swatch Group Japan, which has won all kinds of architectural awards in Japan.  The Swatch Group succeeded in securing space in the middle of these Ginza Street. During the construction period, they realized the difficulties to put a variety of group's brands in the building. Among the 19 watch brands owned by the Swatch Group, only seven brand store were scheduled to launch in the building, the Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet-Droz, and Leonart Leon Hatot, Omega, and Swatch. ▲ Nicholas

London Kingly Court's Space Plan  Many buildings in Historic City London have their own stories. Kingly Court, located on West Side Kabyle Street, formerly used as a timber warehouse, is now owned by Shaftesbury, a retail investment firm. Shaftsbury invests in a variety of real estate properties, including retail, office and residential properties in the UK.   Shaftsbury owns over 100 retail stores and over 60 restaurants on 13 streets only in London. Among them, 'Kingly Court' is the building with the highest return on investment. You can get a unique insight in Kingly Court, which breaks the industry's common sense that high-yielding real estate is difficult to gain popularity among the lessees and the public.  Kingly Court was constructed to include large voids in the middle of the space in the form of a courtyard. The shops inside the court have the same visibility. In other words, there is no dead zone retail space because it is noticeable in any p