News room

ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Koji Minato) has begun joint development of furniture using timber produced in Hokkaido with CONDE HOUSE Co., Ltd. (Head office: Asahikawa City, Hokkaido; President and CEO: Tetsuyoshi Someya).

The two companies will begin corporate collaboration in Hokkaido in 2024. They will promote spatial proposals that utilize local timber, maximizing the value of local resources and incorporating the comfort of wood into offices. Going forward, they will strengthen proposals on a nationwide scale and promote the development of furniture that utilizes Hokkaido timber offcuts and unused materials generated during the furniture manufacturing process, with the aim of commercializing the product and expanding project orders in 2026.

In recent years, offices have been redefined as places that contribute to maximizing human capital, and Itoki is not limited to supplying furniture; it is also focusing on providing high-value-added office spaces through spatial design and work style consulting.
As the trend of returning to the office accelerates, companies are now required to create symbolic spaces that enhance employees' sense of belonging and designs that promote communication. In addition, with growing interest in ESG management and regional revitalization, attention is also being paid to creating spaces that utilize local resources.

In response to these challenges, the two companies have decided to collaborate to create new value by combining Itoki's spatial design capabilities and ergonomic product development capabilities with Conde House's furniture manufacturing, which boasts high design and usability using materials from Hokkaido. In particular, Hokkaido hardwood, with its beautiful grain and warm texture, brings a sense of security and pride to the workplace, contributing to corporate branding and improving employee well-being.

The first example of this collaboration was an office renovation project for Arai Construction Co., Ltd., headquartered in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. This project involved the development of a communication space, which was carried out in April 2025. Itoki was responsible for the overall spatial design, engineering, and furniture planning, while Conde House enhanced the quality of the space with furniture made from Hokkaido materials, combining the strengths of both companies. The space, which takes into consideration a variety of scenarios, including meeting booths, high tables, a raised area where you can take your shoes off, and an area where you can take a nap, has been highly praised by Arai Construction Co., Ltd., who said that it will "enhance corporate value."

Recently, the use of local and domestic timber has been gaining rapid attention in Japan against the backdrop of soaring import timber prices due to the wood crisis and the introduction of a forestry environment tax from fiscal year 2024. In this context, this initiative is positioned as putting into practice and accelerating the trend of "returning to domestic timber" and "sustainable product development" by creating new product value by utilizing unused wood and offcuts from Hokkaido timber generated during the furniture manufacturing process at Conde House.

In July 2025, members of ITOKI's designers, development, and sales teams visited Asahikawa to inspect Conde House's factory and wood processing site. They observed the manufacturing process, watched a demonstration of processing Hokkaido wood, listened to lectures on environmental considerations such as the use of offcuts, and learned about the characteristics and history of wood, and exchanged opinions with the two companies in front of several types of tabletop samples. This visit marked an important step toward product development.

Going forward, we aim to commercialize the table/desk in 2026, and will continue to conduct technical verification and adjust the design, with the aim of utilizing scrap and unused materials as some of the components.

Focusing on new office construction and renovation projects in Hokkaido, we will further strengthen our proposals to incorporate CONDE HOUSE furniture into spaces that represent the company, such as lobbies, entrances, and waiting areas.
When making proposals, ITOKI will utilize its Sapporo showroom and CONDE HOUSE's directly managed stores to provide three-dimensional presentations using design drawings and actual furniture. By providing a proposal experience that allows clients to more concretely visualize how the product will be used after installation, the company aims to improve the rate of successful proposals. Through this collaboration, ITOKI aims to receive four to five project orders per year, and CONDE HOUSE also plans to increase its corporate transaction ratio to 25% in 2026 (up 5 points from 2024) and total sales to 3.4 billion yen (up 10% from 2024).
In the future, we will also aim to further expand our orders by strengthening our nationwide proposals, including joint development of new office items.

ITOKI President and CEO Koji Minato

Our collaboration with Conde House, which has a deep commitment to materials and excellent design, has enabled us to propose higher quality office spaces. We will continue to deepen our collaboration to create sustainable spaces through the use of local materials and to realize a comfortable and proud working environment for employees.

Tetsuyoshi Someya, President and CEO of Conde House

Utilizing high-quality Hokkaido timber and working to create products in harmony with nature, our company has been delivering wooden furniture suitable for "comfortable office spaces," which have seen increasing demand in recent years. By deepening our collaboration with Itoki, which has demonstrated high design capabilities in Workplace Business, we will contribute to the creation of office spaces with even higher added value.

Asahikawa is one of Japan's leading furniture production areas and has nurtured the brand of "Asahikawa Furniture." With its bases in Hokkaido (Sapporo Branch and Eastern Hokkaido Branch) as its base, ITOKI has supported many of the space creation projects of companies and local governments in the prefecture, and has built up connections with manufacturers in the Asahikawa area.
Recently, ITOKI has signed a licensing agreement with Hardwood Plywood Co., Ltd. (Asahikawa, Hokkaido) for its open patent "Human Body Storage Structure and Sleeping Enclosure," developing "giraffenap," a nap box that allows you to sleep while standing, which ITOKI began selling in July 2025. There is also a growing movement for Asahikawa-made products to contribute to improving well-being in the workplace.
Building on this collaboration with Asahikawa's manufacturing industry, this initiative will also utilize new possibilities for local resources in office space, and take on the challenge of creating sustainable value that will spread across the country.

*"giraffenap" is a product made from hardwood plywood and is not part of the joint development project between ITOKI and CONDE HOUSE mentioned in this press release. However, it is positioned as a good example of the affinity between locally produced products and office design.
For more information, please visit: https://www.itoki.jp/company/news/2025/0707_giraffenap/