the brief

Elements runs three retreats: one on a lake in Hakone, one in a forested valley and one by the sea in the south. Each had been fitted out by a different designer, and guests who stayed at more than one felt they had checked in with three different companies.

the approach

We did not design three interiors. We wrote a short rulebook instead: timber and plaster only, one soft colour per room, windows left bare and furniture low enough to keep the view. Each house applies the rules to its own climate, so the lake house is pale and the seaside house is shaded and green.

Signage follows the same logic. Room names are cut into timber at hand height, and a raked gravel garden at each entrance tells guests which retreat they have arrived at.

the outcome

The first two houses reopened in spring 2026, and guests now book the three as a journey rather than a single stay. The rulebook runs to twelve pages, and the client’s architects have used it for a fourth site without calling us.