【Backgroung】

Shiwa Town in Iwate Prefecture is known as the birthplace of the Nanbu Toji brewing masters and has long been celebrated as the "Land of Sake."
This architectural regeneration project, titled “The School of Origins”, is rooted in that deep brewing heritage. It transforms a decommissioned elementary school into the starting point of a town-wide brewing culture—envisioning the entire town as a symbiotic, living brewery.

The ultimate plan for “The School of Origins” includes:
① various brewing facilities,
② a sake retail and dining area,
③ and lodging integrated with brewing experiences—forming a one-of-a-kind, multi-functional sake cultural hub.

This first-phase construction, located on the former Mizuwake Elementary School site, is part of a public asset revitalization initiative by Shiwa Town. In this stage, the core aim is to convert former classrooms into a sake retail space.

At NoMaDoS, we envisioned the space not only as the start of a new business, but also as a vessel for the memories of the past. Rather than erasing the school’s original identity or over-renovating, the design allows the old and new to coexist—like memories flickering through the cracks. This blending of familiarity and freshness creates a unique local landscape rooted in Shiwa.

[Highlight]

• A reinterpretation of the “school” not as a relic of the past, but as a living space where memories are gently preserved

• Original surfaces are intentionally left unpainted in parts, allowing fragments of the former school to subtly emerge—like memories surfacing through time

• The nuanced application of paint was key to achieving a delicate equilibrium—not entirely new, yet not wholly untouched—with layers carefully adjusted on site to evoke both continuity and transformation

[Project Details]

Primary Use: Factory (Sake Brewing Facility)

Location: Shiwa Town, Shiwa District, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Floor: 1st Floor

Structure: Reinforced Concrete (RC)

[Project Team]
Architectural Design: NoMaDoS / Wataru Yoshida, Fumi Otsusaka, Hikaru Chiba (吉田航、乙坂譜美、千葉光)
Environmental Design: NoMaDoS / Ryosuke Takahashi(高橋良輔)
Construction: EIKOU Co., Ltd. (株式会社EIKOU)