PROJECTS

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DESCRIPTION DETAILS

Situated in the Minato City of Tokyo, Azabudai Hills is the studio’s first district, and a culmination of a thirty-year long regeneration process steered by Mori Building Company.

The studio designed the public realm and lower podium level architecture which includes homes, shops and restaurants, a hotel, cultural facilities and the studio’s first school. Azabudai Hills continues Mori’s commitment to creating garden cities by featuring many casual gathering spaces throughout 2.4ha of nature and public gardens which include walkable facades, an informal amphitheatre and multiple water scapes.

Working with a complicated, irregular-shaped plot spanning more than eight hectares, the studio has sought to bring harmony and to create a distinctive identity that is particular to Tokyo. The team devised a pergola-like system scaled up to district proportions to organise and unify many different elements of various sizes. In this way, the design allows for significant green space both at ground level and climbing up the podium buildings, without sacrificing connectivity to the ground.  Echoing the natural forms of the project’s valley setting, the undulating structure rises like a gently sloping hillside before puncturing the ground to allow natural light to pour deep into the basement retail zones.

Azabudai Hills opened in 2023 and is expected receive twenty-five to thirty million visitors annually.

Situated in the Minato City of Tokyo, Azabudai Hills is the studio’s first district, and a culmination of a thirty-year long regeneration process steered by Mori Building Company.

The studio designed the public realm and lower podium level architecture which includes homes, shops and restaurants, a hotel, cultural facilities and the studio’s first school. Azabudai Hills continues Mori’s commitment to creating garden cities by featuring many casual gathering spaces throughout 2.4ha of nature and public gardens which include walkable facades, an informal amphitheatre and multiple water scapes.

Working with a complicated, irregular-shaped plot spanning more than eight hectares, the studio has sought to bring harmony and to create a distinctive identity that is particular to Tokyo. The team devised a pergola-like system scaled up to district proportions to organise and unify many different elements of various sizes. In this way, the design allows for significant green space both at ground level and climbing up the podium buildings, without sacrificing connectivity to the ground.  Echoing the natural forms of the project’s valley setting, the undulating structure rises like a gently sloping hillside before puncturing the ground to allow natural light to pour deep into the basement retail zones.

Azabudai Hills opened in 2023 and is expected receive twenty-five to thirty million visitors annually.

CLIENT

Mori Building Company

LOCATION

Tokyo, Japan

APPOINTMENT

2018

STATUS

Completed (November 2023)

SIZE

8.1ha

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Thomas Heatherwick

GROUP LEADER

Neil Hubbard

PROJECT LEADER

Michael Lewis

PROJECT MANAGER

Elisa Simonetti

TECHNICAL DESIGN LEAD

Andy McConachie

PROJECT TEAM

Adam Peacock, Adriana Cabello,
Ana Diez Lopez, Alberto Dominguez, Andy McConachie, Artur Zakrzewski, Aurelie de Boissieu, Ayumi Konishi, Charlotte McCarthy, Chi Chung, Dimitrije Miletić, Elli Liverakou,
Etain Ho, Etienne de Vadder,
Gabriel Belli Butler, Ho-ping Hsia,
Ian Atkins, Iván Linares Quero,
Jacob Neal, Jorge Xavier Mendez-Caceres, Jose Marquez,
Kacper Chmielewski, Kanru Liu,
Kao Onishi, Katerina Joannides,
Ken Sheppard, Laura Barr,
Lorenzo Pellegrini, Luis Sacristan,
Luke Snow, Mat Cash, Megan Burke, Michael Cheung, Nic Bornman,
Nicolas Leguina, Nicolas Ombres,
Nilufer Kocabas, Ondrej Tichy,
Paalan Lakhani, Paul Brooke,
Philipp Nedomlel, Ruby Law,
Sayaka Namba, Silena Patsalidou,
Silvia Rueda, Steven Ascensao,
Takashi Tsurumaki, Ville Saarikoski,
Wang Fung Chan, Yanny Ren

COLLABORATORS

Executive Architect (Plots A/B2):
Nihon Sekkei

Executive Architect (Plot B1):
Nikken Sekkei

Executive Architect (Plot C):
Yamashita Sekkei

Tower Designer:
Pelli Clarke & Partners

Interior Designer (Plot A – Retail):
A.N.D Nomura Co., Ltd

Interior Designer (Plot A – Residence): Yabu Pushelberg

Interior Designer (Plot B1 – Residence): Marco Costanzi Architects

Interior Designer (Plot B2 – Residence): SCDA (Soo Chan Architects)

Brief:
Winkreative

Lighting Design (Retail Interiors):
Light Design Inc.

Lighting Design (Event Space Canopy): L’Observatoire International

Lighting Design (Landscape):
Sirius Lighting Office

Retail Entrance Design (Plot A):
Sou Fujimoto Architects

General Contractors:

Obayashi Corporation (Plot C)

Shimizu Corporation (Plots A and B2)

Sumitomo Mitsui Construction (Plot B1)