This is a computer-related research laboratory located in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Because Suruga Bay can be seen from the third floor height, guest rooms were placed on the top floor, whereas the trial manufacture workshops were put on the ground floor to allow for carrying machinery in and out. Because machinery is delivered on gull wing trucks, the eaves over the entrance had to be especially high, so we treated the third floor as a canopy projecting far out to the south and provided an entrance on the south side. We located an atrium-like design studio centrally on the second floor. We also decided on a glass-walled structure that allows respective views of the surrounding environment on all four sides from the inside, and of the interior from outside. Here we used a simple rigid-frame structure with a 4.2m module grid. While the grid plan looks flexible at a glance, once the module and structural system are fixed they affect even the internal program.
		Tokyo Weld Technical Center (1999-2001) location: Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture principal use: laboratory site area: 1,945.49m2 building area: 639.19m2 total floor area: 1,279.99m2 structure: steel frame; 3 stories maximum height: 9,885mm architects: Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop structural engineers: Sasaki Structural Consultants mechanical engineers: DAN Engineering sign designers: Hiromura Design Office furniture designers: Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, IDEE general contractors: Heiwa Construction completion date: May, 2001 next back top