Architecture news

NOT A HOTEL Setouchi rental properties, Sagishima Island architecture design, Seto Inland Sea Japan constructing pictures

4 April 2026

Style: BIG– Bjarke Ingels Group

Location: NOT A HOTEL Setouchi, Sagishima Island, Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Visionary Hospitality Company ‘NOT A HOTEL’ Opens 3 Villas Designed By BIG On Sagishima Island’s Hillside In Japan.

< img src="// www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20520%20390%22%3E%3C/svg%3E "data-src ="https://www.e-architect.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/not-a-hotel-setouchi-villas-buildings-japan-b030426-k-520x390.webp"alt ="NOT A HOTEL Setouchi villas buildings Japan"width =" 520"height ="390"/ > Photos by Kenta Hasegawa unless specified otherwise NOT A HOTEL Setouchi villas, Sagishima Island by BIG Surrounded by the Seto Inland Sea, NOT A HOTEL’s newest resort– NOT A HOTEL Setouchi– is now open on the remote island of Sagishima. The 3 distinct vacation homes are made of soil straight from the website using the standard rammed earth method, carved into the island’s mountainous surface. Comprised of three villas, a beachfront dining establishment, and private beach, NOT A HOTEL Setouchi is set on a 30,000-m2 website on the southwestern cape of Sagishima. Created by BIG with building and construction taking less than 2 years, fractional ownership was used through NOT A HOTEL’s shared ownership design, building upon the brand name’s network of high-end villa across Japan.”We are beyond honoured to have actually partnered with BIG in understanding the company’s very first buildings in Japan. This is a landmark moment for NOT A HOTEL’s objective to make Japan much more important, and we make certain that BIG’s 3 SETOUCHI villas will provide their owners with unmatched experiences for many years to come.”– Shinji Hamauzu, Founder, Co-CEO, Chief Visionary, NOT A HOTEL Assisted by the discussion between Scandinavian and Japanese design, NOT A HOTEL Setouchi is created to deal with the natural shapes of Sagishima’s landscape. Central to the masterplan was the repair of the undulating terrain: lawns gathered ahead of building, with olive trees, lemon trees, and native vegetation reintroduced to bring the site’s natural beauty back to life. The four-bedroom villas– named’180′, ‘270, ‘and ‘360’depending upon area and corresponding views– are developed into the site’s different elevations, lining up with existing roads and infrastructure– unfolding like a ribbon ending up the hillside.”NOT A HOTEL Setouchi are our first finished structures in Japan, a culture that has actually had a profound impact on myself and my understanding of architecture; a place where fearless Futurism and deep traditional roots exist side-by-side in contrasting consistency. It has actually been an absolute architectural adventure to work with NOT A HOTEL to make this vision come to life. The archipelago around Sagishima resembles a Japanese landscape painting. Steep rolling hills covered in lavish green greenery appear from the serenity of the Seto Inland Sea.Film on YouTube: NOT A HOTEL Setouchi vacation homes, Japan

The four structures are conceived as extensions of the significant topography. Hills and peninsulas, protrusions and canyons are described by rammed earth walls and solar roofing systems to offer pavilions with 360-, 270-, 180-, and 90-degree views of the surrounding scenery. On one hand, each home resembles an inhabited view, open and extroverted. On the other, their spine walls lay out a private and secured area– open just to the sky.

Macrocosmos fulfills microcosmos, standard meets modern-day; Scandinavian and Japanese, the vacation homes are architectural oxymorons embodying apparently contradictory aspects into a holistic congenial whole.”– Bjarke Ingels, Creator and Creative Director, BIG< img src="https://www.e-architect.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/not-a-hotel-setouchi-villas-sagishima-island-b030426-k3-520x347.webp"alt="NOT A HOTEL Setouchi villas, Sagishima Island Japan bedroom"width="520"height="347"/ > As a nod to Japanese vernacular design, the villas include local products and honour traditional Japanese architectural aspects. The glass facades that dissolve the limit in between in and out reinterpret shoji screens, while the pattern of the black slate floors takes cues from the layout of Japanese tatami mats. Including soil directly from the site, the load-bearing clay walls are used the standard rammed earth strategy, exposing colours and textures like geological strata.

Each villa has been created to show and respond to its unique position on the residential or commercial property. Sitting at the acme of the website, the ring-shaped’360’offers unblocked views across Setouchi’s layered land and seascape in every instructions, with a private courtyard in the middle.’ 270 ‘frames an extensive 270-degree panorama of the surrounding archipelago, featuring a sauna and outside relaxation locations set up like floating islands around a pool along with a firepit. At the peninsula’s tip, closest to the water’s edge, ‘180’ takes its shape from the shoreline itself, with a curved type that echoes the shore. An inner yard unfolds with mild slopes, mossy paths, and trees that alter colour with the seasons.

The homes each circulation as one big, unified space, with restrooms and storage contained within different pods.

Skylights crown each pod, guaranteeing views of the sky no matter the space– balancing openness and privacy. Conventional Japanese baths, calming colour schemes, outdoor firepits, and heated infinity pools produce a smooth transition from home to nature. “When we first visited Sagishima, we found ourselves tracing the terraced contours of the site, always drawn toward the horizon. That walk composed the architecture– each action along the hillside ended up being the curving forms of the villas, their long exteriors opening to capture the breathtaking sea.”– Leon Rost, Partner, BIG

Covered in low-reflective solar tiles, the roofings are a technological and modern-day interpretation of a conventional Japanese roofing system. Operable façades and overhangs promote passive cooling in spring and summertime, while rainwater is collected onsite to water the

landscaping. photo: Ryohei Koike, BIG”What started as BIG’s ambition to create something that might function as a present to the magnificent landscape of Setouchi was recognized with NOT A HOTEL’s objective to raise the worth of Japan in addition to the long-lasting craftsmanship that still exists across the nation, the skill of its contractors and artisans, the support of the regional community, and the devotion of everybody involved– turning what initially felt like a dreamlike fiction into a reality.

photo: Ryohei Koike, BIG The project stands as an amazing convergence of Danish style and viewpoint, standard Japanese architecture, and the technical sophistication and construction accuracy of modern Japan. NOT A HOTEL Setouchi might have only been made in this location, at this minute,

and by this team, and that is what makes it genuinely special.”– Ryohei Koike, Associate, BIG NOT A HOTEL Setouchi signs up with BIG’s growing portfolio of hospitality tasks consisting of Audemars Piguet’s Hôtel des Horlogers in the Swiss mountains; The Biosphere at Treehotel in Swedish Lapland; and the approaching El Cosmico in Texas.

photo: Ryohei Koike, BIG NOT A HOTEL Setouchi vacation homes, Sagi Island– Building Info Size:
2,350 m2 Area: Sagishima, Setouchi,
Japan Client: NOT A HOTEL Collaborators:
Maeda Corporation, ARUP Japan, 1moku, NOSIGHT, BOCS, Mir, LIT style TEAM Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Leon Rost Task Manager: Yu Inamoto Design Lead: Ryohei Koike Job Designer: Mamoru Hoshi Job Team: Ahmad Tabbakh, Andrea Megan Hektor, Casey Tucker, Christina Papadopoulou, Cullen Yoshihiko Fu, Don Chen, Jan Leenknegt, Konstantinos Koutsoupakis, Margaret Tyrpa, Matthew Lau, Naysan John Foroudi, Oskar Alfred Maly, Paul Heberle, Pavel Tomek, and Sang Ha Jung

Images by Kenta Hasegawa

BIG Architects + BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Formerly on e-architect:16 May 2024
NOT A HOTEL Setouchi, Sagi Island, Seto Inland Sea
Design: BIG– Bjarke Ingels Group

render: MIR NOT A HOTEL Setouchi rental properties, Sagishima Island Japan info/ images received 040426 from Bjarke Ingels Group, 145 Main St # 9,

Brooklyn, New York City, New York 11201, United States of America Area: Setouchi, Sagi Island, Japan, East Asia.Japan Hotel Designs Contemporary Japan Hotel Structures– selection from e-architect: vertex by NOT A HOTEL, island of Okinawa Style: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)