Rolls-Royce Bespoke Dawn Kengo Kuma Designs, West Sussex Luxury Cars Project Photos
Rolls-Royce Bespoke Dawn by Kengo Kuma Architect
post updated March 24, 2024
Design: Kengo Kuma
Location: for unique Japanese residence, The Kita Tea House
23 April 2021
Rolls-Royce Bespoke Dawn by Architect Kengo Kuma
Rolls-Royce Creates Bespoke Dawn In Association With Kengo Kuma
Images courtesy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
• Bespoke Rolls-Royce Dawn in collaboration with architect Kengo Kuma
• One-of-a-kind creation bridges luxury automotive and architectural worlds
• Created for unique Japanese residence, The Kita Tea House
• Dawn’s styling reflects residence’s clarity of structure with prevailing sense of calm
• Architect famed for design of the reborn Japan National Stadium
23 April 2021, Goodwood, England, UK – “It was an honour to collaborate with Kengo Kuma to create a serene and timeless motor car for a serene and timeless building. From the inception of the marque over 100 years ago, Rolls-Royce has transcended the automotive field, taking the tangible entity of a car and delivering its patrons the intangible: a truly unique experience. As this project demonstrates, through the authentic application of unique designs and materials, we can provide rare sensory experiences that reflect and enhance our owners’ multi-faceted lifestyles.”
Gavin Hartley, Head of Bespoke Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Kengo Kuma have bridged the luxury automotive and architectural worlds with the unveiling of a first-of-its-kind Bespoke Rolls-Royce Dawn. The singular motor car will debut as a moving representation of the new luxury residence ‘The Kita’ in central Tokyo, designed by Kengo Kuma upon commission by global luxury property developer Westbank.
The Bespoke Dawn was created for the exclusive use of the owner of the unique multi-level penthouse, ‘The Kita Tea House’, which sits atop the newly completed property in the tranquil yet central Kitasando neighbourhood. The penthouse is so named for its rooftop tea house which is framed by views of the Eternal Forest of the Meiji Shrine and Kengo Kuma’s reborn Japan National Stadium.
As is characteristic of Kengo Kuma’s architecture, ‘The Kita’ challenges the relationship between interior and exterior. The open-top Dawn was therefore a natural canvas for the accompanying motor car, a peaceful and cocooning private space where you are conversely never disconnected from the outside world.
The Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective worked in consultation with Mr Kuma and Westbank to ensure that the interior and exterior design reflected ‘The Kita’ in terms of materials, colour palette, texture and ambience to offer the resident a seamless aesthetic and atmospheric transition from property to conveyance. The overriding aim for Dawn’s styling was one of Japanese delicacy with a sense of precision seen in the clean lines of the building, creating a clarity of structure with a prevailing sense of calm, the design’s depth revealing itself softly and subtly. At the same time, both car and residence have a strong visual identity and a generosity of proportion that breaks norms: deceptively neutral yet deeply atmospheric; inherently practical, yet extremely comfortable.
Dawn’s exterior is rendered in Silver Haze, a multi-faceted colour that speaks of the silver-grey of the building’s core structural materials. When illuminated by the sun, it reveals a bronze sheen, a warmth that reflects the bronze koshi screen louvers on the exterior of the building and the bronze detailing of the interior. It is finished with a sleek Silver hood and clean-cut Black coachline. Bringing the interior and exterior together is the warm, intimate feel of natural open-pore Royal Walnut panelling on the rear deck, a nod to the rich Walnut panelling of the towering penthouse entrance lobby.
Inside, the sweeping contours of the Selby Grey leather interior are highlighted by Arctic White and Black accents, with seatbelts in Slate Grey. In the first application of its kind for Rolls-Royce, the finish of the front fascia is gradated. Running the full width of the interior, the horizontal ombré transitions from Piano Selby Grey to Piano Black, a representation of the blended and fluid nature of the building’s luscious and innovative materials. The colour transitions from the residence’s luminescent grey-flecked Bianco Carrara marble, through to the light greys of soft brushed stainless steel and ceramic tile, and finally, to the dark granite and metallic tile.
Into the fascia is set a stainless steel inlay of ‘The Kita’s’ logo, the most delicate example of such an inlay that the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective has produced and a gesture of solidarity with the great skill that went into crafting the residence’s unique hand-finished stainless steel fittings. The same lattice motif is applied in embroidery to the front headrests and the waterfall between the rear seats. Final touches include a specially designed Bespoke clock and Bespoke umbrellas colour matched to the interior, reflecting the discerning tastes of the architect.
“This is the first time I have consulted on a project of this kind and I am proud that I was able to do so for Rolls-Royce, a company with which I share a respect for traditional craftsmanship and a desire to bring out the best in natural materials.” shared Kengo Kuma. “Rolls-Royce has brought the essence of ‘The Kita’ into the car’s aesthetic, allowing the owner of ‘The Kita Tea House’ to take in their surrounding city environment. It is a great honour to see the car finally here at home in Tokyo.”
“The Bespoke Dawn is a beautiful addition to our body of work,” noted Ian Gillespie, founder of Westbank. “Kuma-san’s influence on the Rolls-Royce Dawn is the embodiment of the serenity and beauty he has created in ‘The Kita Tea House’, as an extension of that memory for the individual to enjoy.”
About Kengo Kuma & Associates
Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) is an award-winning, Tokyo-based partnership led by Kengo Kuma since its establishment in 1990. The team’s expertise encompasses architecture, interior, and landscape design. Renowned for cultural and civic projects, KKAA have also designed and completed installations, experimental pavilions, renovations, and major urban developments. The practice uses architecture to strengthen the connection between human experience and the project surroundings, both natural and urban. Detail, material, and nature are at the heart of the practice.
The office comprises more than 235 staff in four offices, of which more than 230 operate from the headquarters in Tokyo. Other locations include Paris, Beijing, and Shanghai. The staff is primarily design-heavy, with nearly all trained in architectural and urban design, hailing from all over the world.
Kengo Kuma guides all projects personally. The staff at the office include architects, landscape architects, renderers, model makers, graphic designers, 3D programmers, and administrators. Together, the office has completed and ongoing work in more than 26 countries on five continents. The work is made possible by collaboration with not only local architecture offices and design teams, but also construction teams, craftspeople—and forward-thinking clients.
Westbank
The core of Westbank’s mission is to create a body of work with a high degree of artistry that helps foster more equitable and beautiful cities. Westbank is active across Canada and in the United States, with projects including residential, hotels, retail, workspace, rental, district energy, affordable housing and public art.
Established in 1992, they are one of North America’s leading developers, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Chengdu. Westbank is driven by the belief that beauty and culture in all forms and in the broadest definitions, are essential to human existence. In committing their efforts fully towards the fight for beauty and the creation of culture, they have evolved beyond the definition of a traditional real estate development firm, to become a ‘culture company’.
Westbank has a long-standing working relationship with Kengo Kuma spanning multiple projects in Tokyo, Canada, and the US. This is the first bespoke vehicle commissioned by Kengo Kuma and Westbank, a progressive artistic commission included with ‘The Kita Tea House’ as the ideal complement for life in the vibrant global metropolis of Tokyo.
The Kita Tea House
Without the same abundance of beautiful, bespoke luxury residences that other global cities enjoy, ‘The Kita’ represents an opportunity for its residents to experience a way of life and a one-of-a-kind Penthouse unlike anything else in Japan.
Designed inside and out by Kengo Kuma, ‘The Kita’ reimagines Japanese traditions, seeking new meaning for materials and singing an ode to the natural world. ‘The Kita’ not only reinterprets the traditions of Japanese design, but also brings Tokyo something wholly new.
For more information, please visit https://westbankcorp.com/body-of-work/the-kita
Technical Specifications
Dawn: NEDCcorr (combined) CO2 emission: 372-367g/km; Fuel consumption: 17.3-17.5 mpg / 16.3-16.1 l/100km. WLTP (combined) CO2 emission: 381-367 g/km; Fuel consumption: 16.7-17.4 mpg / 16.9-16.2 l/100km.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group and is a completely separate company from Rolls-Royce plc, the manufacturer of aircraft engines and propulsion systems. Over 2,000 skilled men and women are employed at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ head office and manufacturing plant at Goodwood, West Sussex, the only place in the world where the company’s super-luxury motor cars are hand-built.
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