The Japanese answer to the hostel, the capsule hotel, debuted in Osaka in the late 70s as a way to provide cheap, basic overnight accommodation to businessman. Stripped down to the bare necessities of a hotel room, individual pods the size of a single bed are stacked together while also offering other amenities like high-speed internet access, bathing facilities, toiletries, etc. Traditionally, the budget accommodation has had a shabby reputation. Today, however, a slew of second wave capsule hotels are trending towards modern, sleek and stylish designs.

One of the latest additions to Japan's expanding luxury capsule hotel market is Nine Hours, the capsule hotel chain—named for the maximum length of stay—that recently renovated ºC (Do-C) Ebisu. Tokyo-based firm Schemata Architects has headed the overhaul of the aging hotel, which will be the first renovation project for the hotel chain. 

"Our design aims to eradicate the image of the old capsule hotel by changing the interior and surroundings, while keeping the existing capsules as they are" said the architects. To do so, the firm pulled from contemporary Scandinavian design in order to give the hotel a unique feel. 

According to the firm, "people often stereotypically associate capsule hotels with saunas due to the conventional style of capsule hotels in the past." Since the hotel was not equipped with a pre-existing spa, the firm retrofitted the space with new saunas imported from Finland, something else that is stereotypically associated with saunas. 

Natural timber is used throughout the interior and clear fiber-reinforced plastic is heavily employed, for waterproofing purposes, in the sauna facilities. Both economical choices, the result is a contemporary, utilitarian design inspired by a certain Finnish simplicity.