Architecture Building Design: AIG Office in Nagasaki, Japan

AIG office building and architecture materials from double glazing for the walls protecting from the summer heat. Aluminum cladding for the skin. From the architect: The building needed to house over 2000 people with various office and relaxation facilities of which some operate round the clock. The client’s requirement was for creating an extremely efficient yet comfortable workspace for its employees. It was to be a flexible space, allowing for future adjustments and changes with a minimum disruption to the ongoing business. Additional requirements, more complex, yet challenging, came from the various Nagasaki city bodies charged with overseeing the city’s urban re-generation.
The Nagasaki climate was an important design factor with its hot summers and a scorching sun. This led to a design, which allows for openness and transparency on the East/West direction while protecting from the South side.
After going through a number of design schemes and sketches, a dynamic design comprising of an aluminum “skin envelope” wrapped around a glass clad transparent spaces, creating a kind of gate or binoculars between the city and the bay; was the one we always went back to. The ship’s curves as well as the symbolism of a wave, helped create a link with Nagasaki history as the European ships’ gateway to Japan during the Edo period.
There are three distinctive functional zones that governed space configuration. Office area comprises first 4 floors. Fifth floor is an in-house recreational area (since the building operates 24 hours as a call center) with a large deck overlooking Nagasaki bay. The north contains a glass box housing Nagasaki civic hall that acts as a separately operated zone.
Project Building and Architecture details :
* Project Name: AIG Building
* Location of Site: Nagasaki, Japan
* Design Team: George Dasic; Shunichi Tajima; Benigna Iwasaki, Reiko Fukushi and Tamaki Suzuki-architecture. Arup Japan-structure and MEP.
* Project Type: Office building
* Client: AIG Japan
* Date of completion: December, 2005
* Contractor/s: Taisei Construction
* Site Area: 7, 000 sq m
* Built-up Area: 20, 000 sq m
Text by George Dasic Architects, Photographs by Peter Cook. [via]

architecture wrap aluminum skin opens view

Aluminum skin architecture buildings

the building contains civic hall overlooking Nagasaki Bay

horizontal and vertical louvers shield interior space