Surprise Announcement: 'Pure Timber Hotel Asakusa Project' Designed by World-Renowned Architect Sou Fujimoto, Creator of the Grand Roof Ring

AQ Group (Headquarters: Nishi-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture; President: Hiroaki Kato) held a symposium on the 19th of this month titled 'Can Medium-to-Large-Scale Timber Construction Be Accessible to Everyone?' The event featured leading experts in the Japanese timber construction industry, including world-renowned architect Sou Fujimoto, who designed the Grand Roof Ring for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. The event drew significant attention from both within and outside the timber construction industry, with over 200 people filling the venue and more than 10,000 viewers tuning in via YouTube Live. During a press conference held on the same day, the company unveiled the 'AQ Hotel Asakusa (tentative name) Project,' the first pure timber hotel by AQ Group. The announcement that the hotel will be designed by Mr. Fujimoto marked a milestone, signaling that the widespread adoption of medium-to-large-scale timber architecture is becoming a reality.

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The event featured architect Sou Fujimoto, who served as the venue design producer for last year's Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai and designed the iconic Grand Roof Ring. Other speakers included Kiyonori Mitsui, Honorary Chairman of the Japan Federation of Architects & Building Engineers Associations; Shunsuke Miyazawa, Chairman of the Japan Housing and Wood Technology Center; Masahiro Inayama, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and an authority on timber structures; and Noboru Yasui, a leading expert in fire safety research for timber buildings. The panel discussion was moderated by Yo Miyazawa, an illustrator and former editor-in-chief of Nikkei Architecture.