Notice on Change of Company Name and Relocation of Headquarters

LIFULL Co., Ltd. announces that it has changed its name from NEXT Co., Ltd. to LIFULL Co., Ltd. on April 1, 2017. Integrating its service brands at the same time as the company name change, its mainstay service HOME'S, a real estate and housing information site, will change its name to LIFULL HOME'S.
In addition, the Company has relocated its headquarters from Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, to a single building in Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, and fully renovated the office.

■Background on the company name change and strategies of the LIFULL Group
The new company name, LIFULL, combines LIFE and FULL. It was selected from 141 ideas gathered through an in-house public advertisement and our ambition to make the LIFE of everyone FULL of comfort and happiness has also been incorporated.
Before the change, there were three brands of NEXT, the previous company name, HOME'S, for our main service, and LIFULL, for our overseas and new operations. On the occasion of this company name change, we will integrate the Group’s subsidiaries and operating services into the master brand LIFULL. We will maximize our brand value through this integration and provide housing life information services that will fill the lives of more people with comfort and happiness based on our corporate message of making every LIFE FULL.

Please look at the reference information at the end for the name changes of operating services associated with the brand integration.

■New headquarters in a single renovated building
Along with the company name change, the Company has relocated its headquarters from Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, to Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The new headquarters is a roughly 50-year-old single building (completed in 1967), which has been fully renovated, with the Company’s project team playing a central role. We have selected this property based on our policy of becoming a model case as an operator that provides housing life information services on the occasion of our headquarters’ relocation, given that the effective use of existing buildings has become one of the most important issues in the Japanese real estate industry in recent years.

When we considered the renovation plan, we defined an office as a transmitter of connection that fosters fresh encounters and free thinking, along with the engawa, a wooden-floored veranda in a traditional Japanese house where the inside and the outside is loosely connected, as the key concepts. Under the cooperation of Hirofumi Uchiyama, former executive of ReBITA inc. and the representative of u.company inc. with a proven track record and a wealth of experience in real estate renovation, and THINK GREEN PRODUCE co., ltd., with a number of achievements in branding production for commercial properties, eating and drinking establishments and offices, etc. in both software and hardware, we have incorporated a variety of arrangements and devices. At the same time, we have also considered functionality that will enable a free and comfortable way of working.

Major characteristics of the new headquarters are as follows.

・Office where the inside and the outside are connected
To activate communication not only among employees in the Company but with those outside, we have established satellite facilities beside the head office function. It is designed to become an office that facilitates communication among the employees (inside to inside), as well as loosely connects with entrepreneurs who use the incubation office on the second floor, and local residents who use the eating space on the first floor (inside to outside). It will increase opportunities for each employee to always be exposed to new information and promote the creation of new ideas and innovations by being open to the outside, instead of becoming a closed office.

・Eating space LIFULL Table
On the first floor facing Shinjuku Street, an eating space was created that is also open to the neighborhood. As an eating facility where people can have a well-balanced meal, a space for an easy meeting and a chartered event in the evening, it will provide a place of relaxation and interaction for the local community both inside and outside of the company (business will start on April 10, 2017).

・Incubation office LIFULL HUB
In the guest space on the second floor, an incubation office for entrepreneurs, freelancers and startups is set up as a parallel establishment. It is located on a stretch of floor that includes the guest space of LIFULL to encourage diverse reactions as a result of interactions with entrepreneurs who use the incubation office, employees and customers as they can easily move back and forth between the incubation office and the cafe on the first floor using the stairs (business to start on May 8, 2017).

・Workspace where employees can choose where to work according to their diverse working styles
The central part of the office floor is a free address and communication area. Communication will naturally expand from casual conversation among employees who work at the free address area and those who gather by the central copy corner, etc. They can also choose the optimum environment for their diverse work styles in their solo work and group work, from the standing-type blest room to expand a team’s thinking, the project room to deepen team discussions and the concentration booth to tackle desk work alone without distraction.

・Rooftop beekeeping garden
On the top of the building overlooking the Imperial Palace, there is a small beekeeping garden where beehive boxes are installed. This is an initiative born from the slightly playful spirit that is distinctive in a fully renovated single office building.

Under the new company name, the LIFULL Group will provide housing life information services that will fill the lives of more people with comfort and happiness based on its corporate message of making every LIFE FULL in its new office.

■Reference 1: List of major operating services of the LIFULL Group with changed names
HOME'S, a real estate information site
[After change] LIFULL HOME'S

HOME'S Nursing Care, a search site for elderly and care homes
[After change] LIFULL Nursing Care

HOME'S Move, a search and reservation site for moving companies
[After change] LIFULL Move

HOME'S Storage, a search site for storage facilities
[After change] LIFULL Storage

HOME'S Style Market, an EC site for furniture and interiors
[After change] LIFULLL Interior

■Reference 2: List of companies participating in the project
General planning produce :
u.company inc. / THINK GREEN PRODUCE co., ltd.

Project management :
THINK GREEN PRODUCE co., ltd. / u.company inc. / Cosmos More Co., Ltd.

Planning direction :
THINK GREEN PRODUCE co., ltd. / u.company inc.

Project management :
Jamo associates co.,ltd.

Planning :
1F, facade and communal areas: Jamo associates co., ltd.
2F, fab: tsukuruba inc. / tsukuruba design
B1-2F and 3F-8F: LOTUS-DESIGN

Construction :
1F, facade and fab: Narumi Co., Ltd.
B1-2F, 2F-8F and communal areas: Cosmos More Co., Ltd.

Sign graphics direction :
THINK GREEN PRODUCE co., ltd.

Sign graphics painting :
TENGU WORKS