A bank, unlocked.

Overview
On a shopping street in central Hikone sits an old bank. The plan is to turn it into a home for DAS (Data Art Science), an initiative the client and partners have run around Lake Biwa for years. We developed the architectural concept with Puddle, with SMDW as a partner.

Question
How do you open up a building designed to keep things in?

Challenge
Banks are built to keep things safe. This one faces inward, with a narrow entrance and no windows. A place for learning and exchange needs the opposite.

Approach
Research with Ars Electronica, interviews with locals, workshops with young people and plenty of fieldwork set the direction. The building opens toward the lot next door, where a park-like space lets the hub spill outside.

Water became the theme. The way it moves gave us three ideas to design around: swirl, circulation and dynamism. The view from the roof gave us the centerpiece, a big spiral staircase at the heart of the building.

The goal is a place worth getting off the train for, even if you’re only passing through on the Tokaido. The architectural plan went on show in 2025.

Outcome
A vault, opened up. And an old bank redesigned around the way water moves.