Kengo Kuma designs Japan's first Ace Hotel

The Ace Hotel chain is opening its first Japanese outpost in Kyoto this winter, in a former telephone exchange building overhauled by Kengo Kuma.

Japanese architect Kuma will convert the ShinPuhKan building – originally designed by Tetsuro Yoshida and completed in 1926 – to create suites set around a plant-filled courtyard.