Renewal project of a slender office building located at the corner lot of Nishi-Shimbashi, the center of Tokyo, Japan. Many office buildings in Tokyo have reached the time of renewal and we believe that architects must take action on this social situation. In this project, by rethinking the slender buildings, which is the main components of Tokyo, and exploring its potential, we aimed to make it an attractive building for the city of the future. As a result, we tried to create façade facing two streets with fire escape stairs.
The three-dimensional facade with stairs function as important structural elements that transmit tensile stress. These stairs themselves also function as braces. They create shadows on the windows on each floor and reduce the cooling load, and most importantly, provides a safe evacuation route in an emergency. In a word, this façade has multiple functions such as structure, environment, and safety. Thanks to the complex façade, the inside becomes a well-formed and easy-to-use workplace. This workplace becomes wider and brighter by using flat beams to ensure the ceiling height and developing a new lighting equipment with upper-and-lower light distribution Finally, the stairs act as a buffer with the outside world, exposing people's activities to the city.
Arakawa Building, which uses up all the building components, shows the new potential of slender buildings to contribute to a cityscape. This architecture will be used for a long time as a landmark of this city.