- Area: 625 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Norihito Yamauchi
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Manufacturers: T-Green
Text description provided by the architects. KANEKA Wellness Center is Kaneka Corporation’s welfare facility, which also functions as a medical facility. With its corporate policy including “wellness first,” Kaneka places importance on the reform of employees’ workstyles and their healthcare. In this facility, medical care and regular medical check-ups are provided to Kaneka’s employees, and various activities will be held to improve employees’ health awareness. In its construction plan, TAISEI DESIGN Planners Architects & Engineers provided the design, which used various environmental technologies developed by Kaneka under the supervision of Kengo Kuma & Associates.
This construction site is in the neglected thicket adjoining Kaneka’s manufacturing site. The design goal was the construction of buildings surrounded by greenery, preserving as many existing trees as possible. After the existing trees were 3D-scanned to create data on them so as to identify their positions, tree felling, mainly of invasive alien species of trees, was carried out so as to preserve tree species suitable to this area. Polyhedral roofs extending from the ground cover the buildings as the architecture integrates into the woods.
Tile-integrated type solar cells, transparent solar cells, and green roofs are integrated into the polyhedral roofs, attaching different environmental technologies to different roof sides, giving various expressions to the roofs. A number of Kaneka’s environmental technologies were employed for the buildings. For example, the external insulation and double ventilation method for wooden construction developed by Kaneka for detached houses was adopted to these medium-sized buildings to install a system that changes ventilation routes according to outdoor air temperature.
In addition to them, deep eaves and excellent heat insulation characteristics helped achieve Net-ZEB, whose energy balance is zero. After its completion, this facility has been used for health awareness improvement activities such as cooking classes and exercise events and also as a relaxation space that helps employees recover from fatigue. This facility has acquired IWBI’s WELL Platinum Certification for its health-conscious functions and designs, such as an interior that uses a large amount of wooden materials and the rich greenery that is visible through the windows.
