🇯🇵Japan·By request

Benesse House Park and Beach (ベネッセハウスパーク／ビーチ)

Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture

Sources checked October 2026

“The Park, one of Ando's few timber buildings, and the Beach, a few steps from the shore, both opened in 2006.”

Year: 2006
Architect: Tadao Ando
Type: Two accommodation buildings of Benesse House, a museum-hotel
Access: Accommodation buildings reserved for their guests: entered by staying there (official website, October 2026)

In May 2006 the Benesse House on Naoshima gained two accommodation buildings designed by Tadao Ando (安藤忠雄): the Park and the Beach. The Park, one of the architect's few timber buildings, overlooks a lawn dotted with outdoor artworks, with the Seto Inland Sea beyond. The Beach stands a few steps from the water, the closest to the sea of the whole complex.

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In depth ≈ 1 min read

History

Benesse House, a museum and hotel in one, opened on Naoshima in 1992; the Oval, an accommodation building, joined it in 1995. The Park and the Beach, two further accommodation buildings, opened in May 2006.

Architecture

The Park is one of Ando's few timber buildings. It rises on gently sloping ground, surrounded by the nature of the Seto Inland Sea: from the veranda of the rooms the eye crosses the lawn and its outdoor artworks, then the sea, with the mountains of Shikoku in the distance. Every room has a balcony; the building also holds art spaces made by the artists themselves, a lounge reserved for guests, a terrace restaurant, a shop and a hall for up to 120 people, the Park Hall.

The Beach is the Benesse House building closest to the sea, a few steps from the water's edge. It is reserved for accommodation and has suites only: from inside, the eye is level with the water, as if one were in the sea.