Namics is a company that manufactures special paste for semiconductor boards. The company started off as a building paint manufacturer, and later developed a special paste with conductive/insulated quality which can be applied to computer chips and boards. This paste is now much in demand, as it is used to manufacture various small electronic devices such as mobile phones, and the company has been growing rapidly. Although the company is still based in Niigata, it also has numerous overseas bases.In the year of its 60th anniversary of founding, this innovative company has decided to rebuild its research centre. We were invited to a design competition, and we proposed an iconic, mushroom-shaped structure which appears to float in midair. Namics is a vigorous company which tries to constantly re-establish its corporate image by endeavouring in new projects. As Namics grew rapidly into a multinational corporation, its management sought a building which appropriately symbolises the company’s momentum. Another design requirement was to ‘open up’ the building to numerous visiting clients, and our interpretation of this requirement was that the building had to be legible and recognizable as possible.We proposed an articulated three layer structure with the first floor and second floor pulled apart. The first floor accommodates the research facilities, the middle second floor a floating garden, and the second floor a cafeteria and hoteling office. The research facilities on the first floor are arranged on a grid plan as requested by the client. The middle second floor, or the first floor roof, is landscaped with a space for exhaust outlets coming from the research rooms and laboratories, which provide a relaxation area for the staff. On top of that there is the second floor mushroom structure. This building is sure to establish Namics’s new image.