C o n c e p t |

A sanctuary of stillness

In the heart of the Seto Inland Sea, on the island of Ōmishima, stands SLOWFT— a private retreat where a century-old Japanese home has been reimagined as a sanctuary. Restored and transformed by French designer Olivier Polmanss, the house is a quiet dialogue between tradition and restraint, craft and emptiness, matter and space.

Here, the architecture does not speak loudly — it listens.
It leaves room.
It breathes.

Rooted in the Japanese concept of mu (無) — the richness of emptiness — SLOWFT is not defined by what has been added, but by what has been left untouched. Mu is the silence between two notes, the space between objects, the stillness between thoughts. In this house, it becomes the essence of being: space as presence, emptiness as invitation.

SLOWFT is not a place to stay.
It is a place to return — to simplicity, to quiet, to what matters.
A soft refusal of urgency.
A home where the soul can unfurl, slowly.

K o m i n k a |

Where silence speaks louder than words

SLOWFT inhabits a restored wooden kominka, one of Japan’s traditional rural houses. But this is not nostalgia — it is transformation. Through subtle interventions, Olivier Polmanss preserves the soul of the structure while allowing a new language to emerge: one of texture, shadow, and restraint.

Lighting was not installed, but composed. Every gesture is intentional. Every surface, quiet. The house is not designed to impress, but to receive.

P h i l o s o p h y |

The luxury of less

At the core of SLOWFT is the philosophy of mu (無) — the Japanese concept of emptiness, of space as presence. Here, emptiness is not a void, but a vessel: the pause between two notes, the light between two walls, the feeling that something essential is allowed to emerge simply because nothing else is in the way.

This is not minimalism for its own sake. It is the art of knowing what to leave out. SLOWFT offers a counterpoint to excess — a refusal of noise, a reverence for calm. The result is a living energy that moves freely, without friction or decoration.

A t m o s p h e r e |

Where time softens

Step inside, and the house exhales. Time loosens. The senses reawaken, gently. Nothing is fast — and everything is felt.

SLOWFT is not a destination, but a state of being. It is for those seeking more than escape: for those seeking presence. A place to sit with silence. To dwell in beauty without ornament. To live, softly.

https://www.instagram.com/slowft