Press Release
Obayashi Corporation Is Honored with the Silver A' Design Award for Oak Konan Shinagawa Office in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Obayashi Corporation acknowledged for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Oak Konan Shinagawa Office by Obayashi Corporation, designed for Obayashi-Shinseiwa Real Estate Corporation. The result belongs to the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Oak Konan Shinagawa Office
Oak Konan Shinagawa is a 12-story office building located near the harbor in Tokyo, Japan. The white lattice-like exterior frame is an outer shell made of precast concrete that serves as both structural frame and sun-shading device. Combined with the steel construction of the core, this hybrid structure creates a column-free office space that allows flexible layouts. The precast columns and beams are produced off-site and lowered into place from above, which simplifies work on site. The exterior windows include natural ventilation units that open with a detachable handle.
About Obayashi Corporation
Obayashi Corporation is a construction company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1892 in Osaka, the company operates in Japan and other countries, especially Southeast Asia and Australia, as well as the United States and Europe. Major landmarks it has constructed in Japan include the Kyoto Station Building, the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) Center in Tokyo, as well as the Tokyo Skytree.
Award Record
This recognition makes Obayashi Corporation a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/149620
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/149620
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!149620
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/341947
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Oak Konan Shinagawa Office
- Function
- Office
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Slate Gray, Light Slate Gray, Dim Gray and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Obayashi-Shinseiwa Real Estate Corporation
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Obayashi Corporation
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2022 - 2023
- Design ID
- #149620
Credits
- Team
- Hiroshi Satake, Kenji Matsuoka, Rei Sato and Kazuhiro Yasufuku
- Image Credits
- Photographer Naomichi Sode (SS Co., Ltd), Oak Konan Shinagawa, 2022
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The building is a mid-rise, 12-story office building located near the harbor in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The distinctive, white lattice-like exterior frame is an outer shell made of precast concrete serving as structural frame as well as sun-shading device. Combined with the steel construction of the core this hybrid structure creates a column-free office space. The fusion of structure and finishing enhances high buildability and sustainability.
- Inspiration
- Labor shortage have recently become major challenges in the Japanese Construction Industry. Structural frame was designed without horizontal connection, which enables to simplify the site erection. Productivity on site has significantly improved by simply dropping columns and beams from above like building blocks. The design of the interior in many areas is based on a motif of vertical and horizontal lines and grids inspired by the facade design.
- Research
- Labor shortage have recently become major challenges in the Japanese Construction Industry. This building uses precast concrete columns and beams, which serve as both the structure and exterior finishing materials of the shell structure that characterizes the facade.The use of precast concrete elements fabricated off-site ensures high quality and accuracy. In addition, the structural frame was designed without horizontal connection, which enables to simplify the site erection. Productivity on site has significantly improved by simply dropping columns and beams from above like building blocks.
- Challenge
- Labor shortage in the Japanese Construction Industry is a major challenge. Although research into new technologies such as construction robots is progressing, there are still few examples of their use in actual construction sites. One of the major themes of this project is high buildability. We communicated with the construction staff to find a construction method that was easy to construct and of high quality. At the same time, as architects, we had to keep creating new ideas for exterior and interior to added-value to the client.
- Realization and Technology
- Supply and exhaust air for the office is provided on the east, west, north sides from equipment units (air supply units and exhaust air units) built into the aluminum curtain wall inside the columns and beams. By taking advantage of the depth (500mm) of the exterior shell structure and installing air intake and exhaust air outlets on the same exterior wall surface, the amount of ductwork in the office ceiling was significantly reduced, which also contributes to high buildability. The deep structural frame also controls the amount of direct solar radiation and significantly reduces the heat loads.
- Operation and Interaction
- The column-free office space with a hybrid structure of a precast concrete outer frame and steel construction improves the flexibility of office layout and significantly enhances the convenience of users. In addition, the exterior windows have natural ventilation window units that can be opened and closed freely by attaching a detachable handle, allowing for direct air intake.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in September 2020 and finished in July 2022 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Specifications
- [Site area] 2,635.57m2 [Building area] 1,485.79m2 [Total floor area] 16,331.64m2 [Number of floors] 12 floors above ground, 1 floor below ground, tower building 1st floor [Maximum Height] 56.76m [Structure] steel construction, reinforced concrete construction in some parts
- Keywords
- Structural Frame, Facade Design, High Added-Value, High Buildability, Equipment units, Office Interior, Tokyo
