Created especially for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, SUIKUU is no ordinary restaurant but rather a restaurant of the future where extraordinary air becomes a reality. Wondering just what kind of restaurant that would be? This designer gives his behind-the-scenes account of SUIKUU.
Restaurant for Enjoying a Dining Experience in the Highlands
Suntory Holdings Limited will be opening a restaurant called SUIKUU at the Osaka, Kansai Expo. While already collaborating with Suntory on the UNDER THE MIDNIGHT RAINBOW water show, Daikin also held numerous discussions with Suntory about the restaurant, and the two companies decided to also collaborate on SUIKUU.
While the aim for the water show had been to visually represent the importance of air, the plan for this restaurant started from the idea of enabling customers to actually experience the value of air. Other restaurants had been considered for a concept that would deliver an unforgettable experience, but our focus turned to Yumeshima, the site of the Osaka, Kansai Expo.
We thought, “Wouldn't it be interesting if people could enjoy a meal at sea level while appreciating the crisp, clean air of the highlands?” That thinking gave birth to the concept of “a restaurant in the highlands.” There you could dine the sea while enjoying the refreshing air of the highlands. Believing that this juxtaposition would provide the best dining experience, we unanimously proceeded with planning the details.
Unique Technology That Produces Crisp, Clean Air
However, even if we say the crisp, clean air of the highlands, air is invisible to the naked eye. Without being told, it is difficult to know that you are experiencing the air of the highlands. For this reason, we first began thinking from a technical approach. To achieve the crisp, clean air of the highlands, we newly developed “ceiling-supplied displacement ventilation AC.”
“Ceiling-supplied displacement ventilation AC” is a new ventilation air conditioning system that allows air to slowly fall from the ceiling of a restaurant dining hall to the floor while air containing particulates, such as viruses and pollen, along with gas components, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are upwardly drawn to the center of the ceiling. Two high-performance filters (a low pressure-drop, medium efficiency particulate air filter and a gas adsorption filter) clean the air and prevent the detection of odors from other tables along with the cross drafts that are typical of air conditioners.
Moreover, the installation of an “IAQ monitor” at the entrance of the restaurant enables the visualization of that crisp, clean air through the display of information, such as temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration, and uses IAQ sensors to measure conditions in real time. In this way, customers can freely confirm the comfort level of the restaurant at any time.
In addition, conventional ventilation systems allow large amounts of cool and warm air to escape when the air exhaust is discharged outdoors, resulting in a significant loss of energy. At SUIKUU, we have achieved heat recovery ventilation that recovers only the cooling and heating (coldness and warmth) from the air discharged outdoors and reuses it for indoor air conditioning.
The Secret of “Dining That Travels Through Air”
A private room with a concept called “Dining That Travels Through Air” is another key point. If you could enjoy dining while being in the finest air environments of countries around the world, wouldn’t that be a one-of-a-kind dining experience? You could, for example, be in the grasslands where the temperature is warm and the humidity is low or in a windless bamboo forest where the temperature is low but the humidity is high. With a system that changes the air environment, a spot with comfortable air can be maintained by changing the combination of temperature, humidity, and wind.
Not only that, but we have discovered that by simultaneously adding other information, such as video and sound, we can further enhance the experience. Other immersive experiences may combine video and sound, but no other immersive experience provides a space where air plays the leading role. Images of highlands and grasslands are projected on the walls of the room and are combined with an air environment and environmental sounds that blend in with the scenery and provide guests with the sensation of dining in nature.
Making the Dining Experience Entertaining with Air
DAIKIN Design aims to create “beloved air” as part of its mission to provide people with valuable experiences through the air that they encounter 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. One concrete example of this is “Dining That Travels Through Air.”
This experience at SUIKUU has led us to believe that adding an immersive air experience to dining would be well received at a variety of restaurants. For example, if we could improve the dining experience through air, such as a restaurant in Japan where you could eat curry while experiencing the “Air” of India, it would increase the added value of the restaurant and heighten customer satisfaction. In other words, it would bring about a new entertainment aspect to dining. We believe that this entertainment aspect in dining can be expanded to a variety of settings, including hotels looking to offer something out of the ordinary.
While reducing a negative condition to a neutral one, such as removing pollen or harmful substances from the air, is important, we at DAIKIN Design believe that turning a neutral condition to a positive one is one area in which we can put our creativity to use and create an inspiring “Air” experience.
