Tokyo, Japan
PLP Architecture, together with Nikken Sekkei and ATTA Atelier Tsuyoshi Tabe Architects, have developed plans for a new district redevelopment in the prestigious and culturally significant Uchisaiwaicho 1-Chome district of Tokyo, which connects to the 16-hectare Hibiya Park and looks across to the Imperial Palace.
PLP is the master designer and placemaking strategist for the entire development, as well as the architect for two of the four mixed-use towers on the 6.5-hectare site.
Working on the architecture within the master plan is ATTA for the North Tower and Nikken Sekkei for the South Tower.
The design for Tokyo Cross Park Vision is developed for a multi-stakeholder partnership, comprising ten of Japan’s most prominent companies.
The multi-disciplinary group came together to co-create a new vision for development in Tokyo.
This has been embodied in a new district that will facilitate co-creation, to tackle key urban and social issues.
The project will be the largest regeneration development in the metropolitan area of Tokyo, with a total floor area of 1.1 million square meters.
The site connects to the 16-hectare Hibiya public park and will include four towers, a 31-meter-tall podium, and a 2-hectare public plaza, together containing offices, commercial facilities, hotels, and residential, co-creation spaces, and an extensive public realm.
The site also consists of three districts: North, Central, and South. In the North District are the Imperial Hotel’s new main building, designed by ATTA, and the PLP Architecture designed North Tower, which offers premium hospitality-oriented offices, commercial facilities, serviced flats, and rental housing.
In the Central District, which is connected to Hibiya Park by an open-air “park bridge,” the Central Tower, also designed by PLP, will be equipped with offices, a hotel, a banquet hall, a multipurpose hall, and cross-industry co-creation hubs.
In the South District, the South Tower, designed by Nikken Sekkei, will comprise of offices, a hotel, and wellness promotion facilities.
The Tokyo Cross Park envisions the growth of the capital’s green space, outwards from the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park into the urban districts of the city.
The new development has extensive green spaces and water, which will connect with the park through two pedestrian “park bridges.”
This link creates a 32-ha human-centric and walkable environment rich in wildlife, water, and public meeting spaces aimed at bringing a focus on wellbeing, quality of life, sociability, and connection to nature.
As well as connecting to nature, PLP has been designed to encourage the city’s top talents—people, institutions, and companies—to engage in this new district.
A program of hyper-mixed functions, amenities, and co-creation spaces provides the framework for the “best of Tokyo” to come together and envision how the next generation will work, play and live.
The district will be supported by advanced digital infrastructure, including digital twins, which will enable it to become a cross-disciplinary third-generation smart city.
This technology will be used to enhance the offerings of the district by constantly evolving to suit the needs of individual users, such as progressively optimizing the well-being experience.
The Tokyo Cross Park Vision features the best of Japanese hospitality. The wide variety of premium hospitality offers is the result of collaboration between stakeholders.
In addition to the rejuvenation of the new Imperial Hotel main building, a separate small super-luxury hotel and a wellness-focused hotel will also both open. Rental housing and serviced apartments will introduce a new premium level “live” offering into the area.
The project aims to achieve zero CO2 emissions with a centralized masterplan-wide energy strategy at the time of completion.
Adding to this, by introducing new environmental technologies such as carbon absorbing technology, the master plan aims to be carbon negative in the future.
Completion of the project will be done in stages, with the first being the South Tower in 2028, and the overall completion date in 2037.
Project: Tokyo Cross Park Vision
Architects and Planners: PLP Architecture International Ltd.
Associate Architects: Nikken Sekkei and ATTA-Atelier Tsuyoshi Tabe Architects
Client: Mitsui Fudosan
Stakeholders: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Urban Solutions Inc., Kokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd., The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd., Chuo-Nittochi Co., Imperial Hotel Ltd., Tokyo Century Corporation, TEPCO Power Grid Inc., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Nippon Telegraph, and Telephone East Corporation
