designboom · Creativity & design

KIAS designs Nagoya headquarters with textured brick and planted atrium

KIAS has completed the Kawamura Electric Headquarters in Nagoya, Japan, a seven-story building integrating offices, an art gallery, and a multipurpose hall. The design aims to foster connections between employees, clients, and the community.

The building features a dual-material facade: a rough, textured brick on the lower street-facing volume and a fine grid of GRC (glass-fiber reinforced concrete) on the upper volume. These contrasting elements, subtly displaced, reduce the building's perceived mass and relate it to its surroundings. The GRC lattice moderates solar gain and integrates the window system, creating a layered appearance.

The brick facade incorporates small variations, with bricks of different lengths and some projecting outwards, creating subtle shadows that emphasize texture and unit definition. This design choice makes the brickwork assembly an integral part of the architectural expression.

A seven-story atrium serves as the building's social and environmental core, promoting natural ventilation and visual connections between different office levels. It is enhanced by a twelve-meter vertical garden and distributed planting, designed by botanist Patrick Blanc, creating a dense, green interior atmosphere.

Artworks by various artists are integrated throughout the interior, alongside terrazzo stairs, handmade tiles, and brick counters, extending the exterior material palette indoors. This combination of art, planting, light, and tactile surfaces aims to enrich the workplace environment.

The headquarters expands the concept of a workplace by combining offices with cultural and communal programs, emphasizing connections between people and departments while incorporating nature, art, and material details into daily work life.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.