A Dandelion Chocolate boutique has launched in a century-old house in Kyoto, Japan.
Dandelion Chocolate is a bean-to-bar craft chocolatier that operates small-scale locations throughout the US and Japan.
The San Francisco brand hired Fumihiko Sano Studio to create the 200sqm outlet’s design, which was shortlisted for this year’s Dezeen Awards. The two-storey interior in the heritage timber-framed property features a cacao bar serving alcoholic drinks paired with chocolate, a retail store and a traditional courtyard.
“Considering the parallels between craft chocolate and cedar, both require authentic craftsmanship and carefully selected natural ingredients – so I made the decision to place cedar at the centre of materials used for this project,” said Tokyo architect Fumihiko Sano in an interview with Dezeen. “Cedarwood is also one of the main materials of Japanese architecture.”
“It is my pleasure to give a new purpose to a building that has stood there for more than one hundred years. May it thrive for another hundred, full of new memories.”