Nintendo's former HQs in Japan refurbished into a boutique hotel
Nintendo's former HQs in Japan refurbished into a boutique hotel

Nintendo's former HQs in Japan refurbished into a boutique hotel

Guests can choose to stay in either the old or new parts of the building, in rooms ranging in size between 33 and 79 square metres.
RE+D magazine
31.03.2022

Japanese architect Tadao Ando has transformed a building that was once home to video game giant Nintendo into a boutique hotel.

Due to open on 1 April, Marufukuro Hotel will be located in Kyoto in a building that was occupied by Nintendo between 1933 and 1959, when the company was called Yamauchi Nintendo.

At the time, the company was a manufacturer of Japanese playing cards called "hanafuda" and Western-style playing cards called "karuta" and "toranpu".

Located in the Kagiyacho neighbourhood, just north of Kyoto railway station, the building has been unoccupied ever since Nintendo vacated it.

Ando has renovated and extended the old structure, converting it into an 18-room hotel including a restaurant, bar, spa and gym.

The building's exterior has remained largely unchanged, retaining elements such as old Yamauchi Nintendo entrance plaques and window grilles patterned with details from the old playing cards.

Guests can choose to stay in either the old or new parts of the building, in rooms ranging in size between 33 and 79 square metres.

The project is backed by property developer Plan Do See

(source:dezeen)