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Azabudai Hills, Mori JP Tower, a modern urban village

Pelli Clarke & Partners

Mixed Use  /  Completed
Pelli Clarke & Partners

The Azabudai Hills project began in 1989 and was developed over 30 years in a district with fragmented terrain and aging infrastructure. This urban redevelopment aims to improve infrastructure, enhance urban functions, and address issues like crime prevention and disaster preparedness. Embracing the concept of a "Modern Urban Village," Azabudai Hills integrates nature with contemporary offices, residential, retail, cultural, medical, and educational facilities, along with large green spaces. The design focused on site circulation and a central green square. By consolidating small plots and adding high-rise towers, a large expanse of green space was created.

After three decades of planning, Azabudai Hills has transformed Tokyo's key neighborhoods into a vibrant mixed-use community. The development includes offices, residences, a hotel, an international school, retail spaces, and essential infrastructure, with a focus on health and wellness incorporating 24,000 SM of green space. This comprehensive approach has resulted in 1,400 new residential units, 204,000 SM of office space, and various amenities, showcasing an exemplary model of urban density and natural environment restoration.

The Mori JP Tower is now Japan’s tallest tower standing at 325 meters. The tower meets the ground to a variety of retail, shops, food and beverage options and a series of undulating lower-level buildings within the site.

Azabudai Hills has achieved Platinum LEED ND pre-certification, making it Tokyo's first property to receive this recognition. Its diverse urban functions, walkable design, and renewable energy infrastructure exemplifies sustainable living. Mori JP Tower's office and retail segments has earned preliminary LEED Platinum certification for energy use, environmental impact reduction, and post-construction energy conservation. The Mori JP Tower has received a WELL Core Platinum certification for its focus on health and wellness. Azabudai Hills Central Green provides nearly five times more outdoor space than before with strategies such as: recycled rainwater use, wastewater treatment recycling, and renewable energy. 100% of the electricity supplied to the complex will come from renewable sources.

The Mori JP Tower and its taut, glass wall gently folds inward toward a subtle crease which is lit at night. This pillow-like shaping reproportions the building so that it seems to bundle together four slender towers, each with a vertical proportion of 1:8. In addition, the corners of the tower are round, so there is always a highlight on the curved surface in any weather, further enhancing its billowing vertical volume. The form of the tower as a continuous flowing surface reacting to the rolling historic landscape and the energy and rhythm of everyday life of Minato Ku and Azabudai Hills. The Mori JP Tower is designed to withstand a 9.1-magnitude earthquake, due to it’s earthquake-resistance technology and has dedicated power stations supplying electricity to everyone in the whole neighborhood. This inclusionary design will have about 6,000 SM of shelter that can temporarily accommodate up to 3,600 stranded people in the event of an emergency. The vast 8.1-hectare area is filled with lush greenery as a verdant urban oasis with approximately 24,000 SM of greenery, including in its approximately 6,000 SM central square.

"We wanted to create a neighborhood that embodies these values in the heart of Tokyo. Azabudai Hills demonstrates our vision of 'Green & Wellness' for urban life as well as our ambition to contribute to the international competitiveness of Tokyo," said Shingo Tsuji, President and CEO of Mori Building Co., Ltd.

Credits

 New Haven
 Connecticut, USA
 Mori Building Co.
 Mixed Use
 11/2023
 854707 m2
 Confidential
 Pelli Clarke & Partners (Master Planner, Design Architect of Towers); Heatherwick Studio (Lower-level Architecture); Architect of Record: Nihon Sekkei
 Fred Clarke; Jun Mitsui, Mitch Hirsch, David Coon, David Diaz, Amrit Pilo, Olivia Huang
 Shimizu Corporation
 AOR: Nihon Sekkei (Plot A) AOR: Nikken Sekkei (Plot B1) MEP: Nihon Sekkei Structural Engineer: Nihon Sekkei Tower Lighting Design: L’observatoire International Interior Designer Retail (Plot A): AND Nomura Co. Interior Designer Retail (Plot B): SCDA Interior Designer (Plot A): Yabu Pushelberg Interiors Designer Retail (Plot A); Sou Fujimoto Architects Interior Designer (JANU Hotel): Denniston
 N/A
 Jason O'Rear

Curriculum

Founded in 1977, Pelli Clarke & Partners has designed some of the world’s most recognizable buildings. Our award-winning portfolio includes the World Financial Center/Brookfield Place in New York, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, and Salesforce Tower and Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco. Our work for public and private clients includes office buildings, hotels, residences, performing arts centers, museums, academic buildings, libraries, research centers, and master plans. Based in New Haven and New York City, our Partners lead interdisciplinary teams of architects, designers, and technical experts across the globe. Diverse perspectives, focused engagement, and empathy fuel our design process.
We bring our creativity, commitment, excitement, and insight to generate vibrant new architecture and experiences. As design architects, we solve complex architectural problems with elegant design solutions.

https://pcparch.com/work/azabu...


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