Headquartered in the City of Toyama, Juzen Chemical Corporation is a contract manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Imbuing the culture and natural beauty of Toyama among its manufacturing complex, the company’s new head office was designed to present an indoor ambiance like a relaxing wooded area, which could additionally provide employees with space for respite.
The site occupies a city block with two opposing corner lots carved out, one for a private residence and one for a small park. Consequently, the footprint for the new office building is an L-shaped volume that avoids casting shadows on adjacent housing and embraces the open space provided by the park. The layout places the formal entrance and lobby on the first floor, the main office suite on the second floor, the cafeteria on the third floor, the executive offices and open-air balcony on the fourth floor, and conference rooms on the fifth floor. Vertical traffic flow was established at the “fulcrum” of the L shape for efficient access between floors.
The full-glass façade provides views of the surrounding industrial park, the Jintsu River to the west, and the Tateyama mountain range to the east. An outdoor deck wraps around the façade and provides a buffer to the perimeter of each upper floor. Interior ceilings are fitted with louvers made of Japanese pinewood, and the louvers extend outward and adorn the eaves above each deck. The resulting space has a warm natural feel like being under tree cover.
Because the site lies within the Jintsu River floodplain, the raised ceiling built to counter natural disaster for the building’s upper floors is also laid with wooden louvers, partially curved to evoke the bottoms of the kitamae trading boats that supported the maritime transport and the medicine traders of the Japan Sea in the past.
Medicinal herbs, found among Toyama’s wealth of forests, and trees common to large local estates are planted beneath the raised ceiling space. The area is contiguous with the park and permits nearby residents and visitors to freely stroll the greenery, to which employees have immediate access.
