{"id":367751,"date":"2026-04-07T11:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/367751\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:38:15","slug":"keiji-ashizawa-designs-loca-niru-as-a-dialogue-across-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/367751\/","title":{"rendered":"Keiji Ashizawa designs Loca Niru as “a dialogue across time”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Located in the historic House of Tan Yeok Nee, Japanese restaurant<\/a> Loca Niru in Singapore<\/a> has a pared-back, simple interior that contrasts its ornate exterior.<\/p>\n

Architect Keiji Ashizawa<\/a>, founder of Keiji Ashizawa Design<\/a>, wanted to create a calm atmosphere in the restaurant, which is named after two Zen concepts.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorWooden furniture by Karimoku was used at Loca Niru<\/p>\n

“Rather than designing a space that asserts itself, we sought to create an environment that quietly frames human activity \u2013 where architecture recedes and experience comes forward,” Ashizawa told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“At the same time, as this is a restaurant located within an important cultural site in Singapore, we carefully considered from the outset whether this concept would be appropriate and meaningful in such a context.”<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorLoca Niru is located inside a historic building<\/p>\n

The House of Tan Yeok Nee was built in the 1880s in the traditional Teochew<\/a> style and has been designated a National Monument of Singapore.<\/p>\n

Its exterior features an ornately decorated roof and wooden shutters with flower motifs, while inside, Ashizawa worked with wood, stone and washi paper to create a more contemporary feel while also highlighting the building’s historic features.<\/p>\n

\"RestaurantKeiji Ashizawa used natural materials and an earthy colour palette<\/p>\n

“We approached the project as a dialogue across time, allowing new elements to be clearly contemporary, yet respectful in scale, proportion and presence,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Elements such as materials and colours to be preserved were also carefully studied, and integrated into the overall palette to maintain harmony between the old and the new.”<\/p>\n

\"RoomEchizen washi paper lamps were specially made for the restaurant<\/p>\n

The architect created contemporary furniture pieces with Japanese brand Karimoku and used Echizen washi paper to design bespoke lamps with simple, geometric shapes for the Loca Niru<\/a> interior.<\/p>\n

Ashizawa also added artworks by Japanese artists and woven textile hangings to subtly decorate the space.<\/p>\n

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“We focused on honest materials, allowing their natural qualities to age gracefully over time and deepen the atmosphere of the space,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“Whenever possible, we selected materials that invite touch \u2013 surfaces that feel almost like ingredients, engaging the senses beyond the visual.”<\/p>\n

\"WoodenTextile hangings decorate Loca Niru<\/p>\n

The colour palette of the restaurant was kept neutral, focusing on greige, natural wood and grey hues.<\/p>\n

“The historic building itself is richly coloured and highly decorative, so we introduced a softer and more restrained palette inside the restaurant to create a calm contrast,” the architect said.<\/p>\n

“This reduction of colour allows light, shadow and materiality to become the primary elements of expression.”<\/p>\n

\"WomanKeiji Ashizawa wanted to create a calming atmosphere<\/p>\n

Ashizawa aimed for the interior of Loca Niru, which serves French-Japanese food, to have a peaceful feel.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, the space is designed to create a sense of stillness \u2013 where guests become more aware of time, presence and the act of dining itself,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We also hope that guests can appreciate the layered history embedded within the space, experiencing both the past and the present simultaneously.”<\/p>\n

\"SofaThe Singaporean restaurant serves French-Japanese food<\/p>\n

Other recent Singaporean projects featured on Dezeen include a house designed as the client’s “last home”<\/a> and a rainforest resort with treehouses that look like seed pods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Project credits:<\/p>\n

Architect: Keiji Ashizawa Design
Project architect: Keiji Ashizawa, Yudi Liu
Local architect: Lian Architects
Construction: Sunray Woodcraft Construction Pte Ltd
Tiles: Dantousha
Furniture: Karimoku Furniture, Karimoku Case
Lighting plan: Auroroa Inc., Yoshiki Ichikawa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Located in the historic House of Tan Yeok Nee, Japanese restaurant Loca Niru in Singapore has a pared-back,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,155411,102679,111,139,69,10270,1621,1622,9739],"class_list":{"0":"post-367751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-japanese-restaurants","15":"tag-keiji-ashizawa","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-restaurants","20":"tag-sectionall","21":"tag-sectioninteriors","22":"tag-singapore"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}