Ibaraki, Japan
Designed by Nobuaki Miyashita and his team at Tokyo-based MR STUDIO, this project is for a new timber processing plant for precut lumber built for Aida Sekkei—one of the leading housebuilders that specializes in traditional Japanese timber construction.
The Aida Precut Division Ibaraki Factory was recent received a 2020 International Architecture Award from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
Although Japan is blessed with forest resources, contemporary construction wooden structures have not been used for buildings other than small houses.
However, in recent years the government has promoted the timbering of medium- and large scale buildings through legislation and the demand for timber as a building material is rapidly increasing.
The planned site in Bando City is a place where forest resources are abundant despite being near Tokyo.
It is conveniently located as a node of the expressway network in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which was a decisive factor in its selection as the site for the new construction.
The plant plays an essential role in providing high-quality houses. Its design concept is all about creating an architecture, which embodies the series of timber processing.
In other words, the concept is to visualize the simple process of lumber production: cutting out necessary parts from high-grade laminated timber under the strict control of sawing accuracy while minimizing material waste.
The whole design of the plant represents the house builder’s sophisticated precut method, namely the excellent quality of their housing, thoroughly showcased in its exterior and interior details.
The idea of this architectural design was to manifest the corporate identity of the company and to deliver inspiration for its future.
In order to do so, several portions of mass were moved slightly from a huge mass of 130 m by 100 m by 10 m to create subtle contrast in space.
While being quite simple and practical space layout, this method enables each space to function as a viewing aisle, truck berth with deep and wide canopy, and office.
As for the office, which is the face of the plant, the architects created one large space by building a scissor truss using members of smaller cross-section (30 mm by 120 mm size lumber used as a supplementary member such as wall stud of a home).
120 mm square Japanese cypress pillars are placed every 303 mm of the wall, and to construct loadbearing walls, a 30 mm thick cedar board was inserted between the pillars.
All of the wooden elements in the office being left bare; they also serve as a display for the house builder’s technique of precut in a showroom.
Almost 100-meters-long viewing aisle encased in a random stripe wooden shell is cantilevered and appears as if it floats from the factory building wall.
The aim of the impressive facade design with a sense of acceleration and speed is to provoke the image of the company’s further evolution towards the future.
Project: Aida Precut Division Ibaraki Factory
Architects: MR STUDIO Co., Ltd.
Client: Aida Sekkei Co., Ltd.
General Contractor: Kawada Industries, Inc.
Photographer: Nobuaki Miyashita