Key Operation Inc. / Architects  is an architectural practice directed by Akira Koyama based in Tokyo, Japan.

Akira studied architecture at the Tokyo Metropolitan University and also completed the MArch at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL with distinction and MSc at Tokyo Institute of Technology. He worked in UK at various architectural practices including David Chipperfield Architects. He was also a shop development director at Zara Japan Corporation. Akira is a registered architect both in UK and in Japan and he is a member of Royal Institute of British Architects.

After setting up KOP in 2005, Akira has directed more than 180 retail store projects, within the last 19 years, as a project manager, for the foreign brands such as ZARA, Bershka, ZARA Home, Stradivarius, Berluti, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Charles & Keith and Starbucks.

Parallel to those commercial projects, we also started working on various type of projects such as flat renovations, detached houses, villas, apartment complex, offices, commercial tenant buildings, cinemas, complex buildings and cemeteries. Our aim is to find the simplest and the most innovative space composition, construction method or other architectural technique that does tackle the different problems and give a coherent, clever, logical solution. In order to do so, we investigate and analyse the customer’ s requirements, observe the urban context, understand the social interactions, acknowledge local history, culture, regulations and natural environment, study building materials and techniques. We also think that the economic conditions, which we learned from the commercial projects, are also very important for the architecture as they are blood cells to create architecture and also to keep on running the architecture. We commit ourselves to provide the design ideas and concepts based on the economic aspects of the architecture as we believe that the architecture can improve the economy of the city, embracing the culture, and solve the social problems.