Ace Hotels is set to open its first Japanese property next year.
Designed by Tokyo-based architecture firm Kengo Kuma and Associates, the Ace Hotel Kyoto will reportedly embrace the region’s industrial and imperial legacy in a transformed structure from the 1920s.
Kengo Kuma designed the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center in Tokyo, the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum and the forthcoming Olympic Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Kengo Kuma is known for embracing natural materials and light in his designs.
For the Ace Hotel Kyoto, the Tetsuro Yoshida-designed red brick building will be modernized with a wooden grid system reminiscent of traditional Kyoto. There will be also fine louvers and meshes serving as environmental devices that filter light and wind.
Kengo Kuma has hired local artists and craftspeople to infuse the hotel with a sense of place. NTT Urban Development Corporation is also involved in the development of the Ace Hotel Kyoto.
Ace Hotel Kyoto will be located near Nishiki Market, Museum of Kyoto and the Kyoto Art Center.