scaffolding pipes and other familiar urban components are transformed into street furniture

The Temporary Urban Platform Activates an empty development site

GAS STAND (Grow and Spread) is a temporary urban activation project by raw series group, developed for Osaka Gas Urban Development on a part of the site planned for a future mixed-use building that will include the headquarters of the Daigas Group. Located along the Midosuji, Shareholder main north-south avenue, the project temporarily transforms the disused site into public platform for community activities, informal gatherings and everyday use before permanent construction begins.

Rather than leaving the site vacant during the pre-construction period, the intervention introduces a temporary spatial framework that supports public ownership while testing future approaches to site management and community planning. GAS STAND, operated by Osaka Gas Urban Development, acts as a temporary environment where office workers, local residents and visitors can gather through informal activities, local initiatives and neighborhood events.

The project responds to the character of the surrounding business district, where daily pedestrian activity contrasts with quieter weekends and where public spaces for lounging are limited. Rather than creating a conventional plaza separated from the street, the design extends the logic of the existing urban environment into the space, reducing the perceived boundary between public and private space. This approach places the temporary intervention as an extension of the road rather than an isolated destination.

all images from ©︎Yosuke Ohtake

Scaffolding pipes and street furniture Set the intervention

The spatial composition is assembled from familiar urban components such as benches, standing benches, notice boards, graphic markings, planters, traffic mirrors, and scaffolding tubes commonly associated with roads and construction sites. Reconfigured in a new layout, these everyday elements support seating, gathering, information sharing and informal interaction while maintaining a visual continuity with the surrounding city. Rather than acting as fixed amenities, individual components act as adaptable tools that encourage participation and accommodate changing activities over time. Their temporary nature allows the site to evolve while remaining closely connected to the daily rhythms of the neighborhood.

It was designed as the first stage of a larger urban transformation by design studio group premiere, GAS STAND explores how public life can emerge before architecture is complete. By activating the site through temporary design interventions, the project creates an early context for community use, spatial identity and future employment, while anticipating the role of permanent mixed-use development.

The GAS STAND occupies the site of a future mixed-use development