DAIFUKU MIDORI.so, a co-working facility for startups and venture companies, opened in the city of Fukuoka in September 2022. It’s the first shared office facility established by MIDORI.so in Kyushu and connects locals with workers in Asia and Tokyo. The grand opening coincided with the 10th anniversary of a declaration by the city’s mayor that Fukuoka would become a “Startup City”. Since then, Fukuoka has attracted attention both domestically and abroad as a city engaged in advanced startup support.

The facility fills a renovated five-floor building that is open to the public and features a gallery as well as a café & lifestyle store. Renovations were handled by Akihiro Nakao and Tomoaki Munakata, two young architects representing the city of Fukuoka. By taking advantage of the building’s existing strengths, they created an unprecedented space with novel colors and materials.

On the first floor, they opened a PPP (parkside, people, party) cafe serving coffee from New Zealand Coffee Supreme, one of the world’s top 10 roasters. The cafe also serves coffee from SR, a Swedish micro-roastery with a branch in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

Other establishments on the first floor include big names like fragrance brand P. F. Candle Co., originally from Los Angeles, and CIRCLE&LINE, which sells crafts from various brands around the world. Ovgo Baker also offers popular vegan American cookies that cater to various food preferences.

The second floor is a spacious gallery with a big curved ceiling. It hosts various exhibitions, serves as a satellite for galleries in Tokyo and abroad, and accommodates traveling exhibitions.

The third to fifth floors are filled with office spaces that reflect the individuality of MIDORI.so in every detail. For example, the walls across from the elevators on each floor display art selected by the MIDORI.so gallery curator.

On the first floor, the elevator lobby walls of this richly diverse building are partly covered with Ultrasuede®. Its elegant suede texture complements marble portions of the walls, creating a sophisticated space where people can switch modes before moving from the cafe to the gallery and office spaces above.

In Fukuoka City, which increasingly attracts attention as an Asian hub, the diverse people utilizing DAIFUKU MIDORI.so are creating something exciting and new.