NAGAREYAMA OTAKANOMORI GARDENS AZALEA TERRACE

“Fluctuation” connected with the environment

This is an office complex planned as part of a development project around Nagareyama Otakanomori Station. Since Nagareyama has a large population of people raising children, it was required to provide a commercial center, clinic, daycare center, and other facilities to serve as a base for the local community and to enhance the circulation of people to and from the surrounding facilities.

We considered creating a new universal space where these various functions could coexist and where the “cohabitation” of tenants, which could change in the future, would be allowed. At the same time, we wondered if we could create a slightly “fluctuating” interior environment, rather than simply creating a homogeneous universal space. By shifting the balcony shape of each floor slightly, a terrace can be attached on one floor, while on the other floor, greenery can be seen from inside the room. The different lengths of the eaves also create slight differences in the way the sun shines and the view. The perimeter on three sides is made of aluminum sliding doors for residential use, allowing natural breezes to enter the building as needed. The stacked balconies, staggered slightly, provide a connection point to the rich natural environment of Nagareyama, creating a slight “fluctuation” that allows the people who work in the facility to choose the environment that best suits their needs. The diagonal columns, which also have the function of bracing, gradually approach the vertical from the lower floors to the upper floors according to the horizontal load applied during an earthquake. The overlap of these “fluctuations” creates a sense of unity in the design.

The eaves extend out toward the sidewalk, giving the building a sense of scale and affinity with the low-rise facade of the station, and contributing to the pedestrian circulation and connection with the surrounding facilities. The public rooftop garden overlooking the Otakanomori forest is a green landmark that creates a sense of unity with the square in front of the station, and provides a relaxing place for the people who use the facility and the local community at a short distance from the bustle in front of the station. While large-scale redevelopment continues in the city center, we aimed to create a universal space that constantly fluctuates and generates a variety of irregularities through the proximity of “work” and “living,” the diversity of scale according to usage, and the “cohabitation” of changing programs, which are the unique characteristics of suburban areas.