The KEF Music Gallery, located in Omotesando, a central design district of Tokyo, is a new two-storey experiential space in which to explore the creative world of KEF high-fidelity sound. Instantly recognizable from afar, its glass facade features a huge 3-dimensional graphic interpretation of KEF’s signature Uni-Q driver array. The iconic design transforms the building into a giant, illuminated, transparent speaker. Like a beacon, it draws visitors into two floors of experiential showrooms and three split-floor levels of sound rooms.
More than a showroom or store, its spaces are multifaceted, designed to be lively hubs of creative social activity. Visitors are encouraged to try innovative speaker and headphone designs and experience the sound quality of KEF’s architectural loudspeakers. Collaborators — local artists, designers, musicians and sound producers — are invited to utilize KEF equipment to showcase works.
Both the ground-floor Gallery and first-floor Studio feature sound absorption walls fitted with adjustable floating shelves to allow for flexible and ever-changing displays of KEF’s wireless active speakers. Full-height glazed windows are also fitted with moveable LED monitors to showcase digital installations, videos and original collaborative works.
A stair tower of shelving for KEF’s greatest and latest products extends through the floors to become the heart of the structure — a center piece that guides visitors from the Gallery and Studio to three split-floor rooms of immersive sound experiences.
On the lower-ground level, the Ultimate Experience Room interior is fine-tuned by sound engineers to create the optimum soundscape for Ross Lovegrove’s first design for KEF — a pair of futuristic, 2-meter-tall MUON speakers. Above, The Wireless High-Fidelity Lounge, a comfy living room space, demonstrates the sound quality and range of KEF’s LS60 wireless speakers. The uppermost level, The Extreme Theatre, provides an intimate home cinema experience of ultimate surround sound, featuring eight sets of reference speakers installed in walls, behind the screen and in the ceiling.
As a combined retail and exhibition space, KEF Music Gallery not only presents KEF’s full range of high-fidelity speaker technology, but is also an interactive platform to explore its potential with cutting-edge partners.
Location - Aoyama, Japan
Principal Use - Commercial
Total Floor Area - 135.25m²
All images - © Nacása & Partners