Yamato Konan Building by Nikken Sekkei

The new Yamato Konan Building seems like an ideal facility for Yamato Group, Japan’s largest logistics company, by combining distribution, training and research functions, a corporate museum, and even a café.

But these uses actually reflect rational thinking about existing assets, the increasing impact of logistics, mechanisms and today’s need for diverse services. In particular, the design reflects the rapid evolution of AI and IoT technologies.

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Managing their coexistence across architecture, infrastructure, and human and machine elements was a distinctive feature of the project. How to integrate them into a single architectural form was the design challenge. The building’s design philosophy places “dynamic” activity spaces on the outside, and “static” activity spaces on the inside.

The building’s outer perimeter was configured in a double-spiral, with the vehicle passages, museum gallery, outdoor terraces and workplaces on the perimeter, and rectangular floors in the center.

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Besides showcasing a new architecture, the configuration also serves as a metaphor for modern Tokyo’s “mobility innovation.” Noteworthy features include cantilevered lower floors, and upper floors suspended from a hat truss structure. Oil dampers and vertical steel pipes reduce vibration induced by vehicle movement.

A double-skin glass façade makes up the exterior cladding, which acts as a projection screen for the activities that transpire inside. Openings in the façade allow for ample ventilation. Source by Nikken Sekkei.

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