Mirrored boxes and reflective surfaces create multifaceted perspectives in a concept shop in Tokyo, Japan. 

The shop, named URA Store, was designed by Japanese studio Insideout to blurr boundaries between interior and exterior, acting like "an undefined product".

The shop is situated in a quiet, narrow and semi-basement plot on a back street in Harajuku/Jingumae Tokyo. The name of the store takes its name from URA, meaning that backside, oposite, behind, reverse in Japanese.

Insideout created a concept shop for fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro whose products take into account environmental and social responsibility from a multifaceted perspective.

The interior of the shop features a limited number of products and furnitures where mirrored and reflective surfaces dominate the space. 

The 47-square-metre interior space consists of a glass box, counter, back counter, terrace LED screen and stock room. 

These reflective surfaces weaken the boundary between inside and outside and seem to extend the area to the residential site opposite. The interior is a minimal space with full LED screens and contrasting masses of glass, mirrored surfaces and stone.

A mirrored 'rectangle' set on top of two stone blocks penetrates the room and juts out to the outside. 

According to the studio, the space itself functions like "a conceptual art" in public spaces, the irrationality and useless margins, which do not have a specific function, give the experimental shop, with its undefined product, the possibility of free use and diversion.

"The products do not blend in with the tensed design considered from the reverse side, which is not unlike the brand, and the contrast between the 'surfaces and lines' as a background and the 'dots' of the products stands out," the studio explained. 

The studio anchor the mirrored rectangular surface to the upper surface of the stone with anchor bolts and the ends are seal-glued to the glass surface. The detailing is such that it looks as if it continues inside and out, with the glass in between.

Floor plan and elevation

Counter drawing 

Project facts

Project name: URA Store 

Architects: Insideout

Completion: October 2023

Area (m2): 47m2

Project Location: Jingumae, Tokyo, Japan

Lead Architects: Hiroto Kubo

Client: SOSU Co., Ltd.

Direction: Mihara Yasuhiro

Interior Design: Insideout ltd. (Hiroto Kubo, Irene Alonso) 

Constructor: Ishimaru co., ltd. / Mihoya Glass co., ltd. 

Lighting: HIBIKI, Inc.

Stone: Takebayashi Stonemason

All images © Insideout.

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Insideout mirror reflections retail store shop store Tokyo