2019 - IN PROGRESS, TOKYO, JAPAN
The new headquarters of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. will sit in an extraordinary location, facing the Imperial Gardens and close to Tokyo station.
A forest of wooden columns, becoming thinner as they rise towards the sky, will provide support to the building and define its character and identity. The building’s hybrid structure, designed to withstand severe seismic events, will employ wood on an unprecedented scale both in terms of quantity and size, to the benefit of the building’s embodied carbon, which will be notably reduced. The slabs will be a hybrid of CLT and concrete. The columns, measuring 2x2m on the ground and 1x1m at the top of the building, will be a hybrid of glulam timber and steel.
With its vibrant and intelligent facades, conceived to minimize solar gains during summer while maximizing incoming sunlight and views to the outside, the building aims to achieve very high standards of environmental performance and targets LEED platinum certification.
Wellness will also be at the core of the design with well-lit, open-plan office spaces, communal amenities on all floors and a system of convenience open staircases to encourage mobility and communication.
The lower levels of the building, conceived with the public in mind, will be very permeable. The boundary between exterior and interior will be softened by the use of highly transparent facades encouraging the people to enter the building. Inside, one will find a rich variety of spaces and activities, punctuated by the presence of the wooden columns.
At the top of the building, 100m above the ground, a roof forest will provide a quiet and inspiring space for the employees to relax, to stroll around and to enjoy unique views of the city. The building is due to be completed in 2028.