Silver Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2025
Urawa Garden Bldg Office
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Garden Group
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 20,163
- Verification code 765FA16687 · Verify this award
About Urawa Garden Bldg Office
Urawa Garden Building is an office building in Urawa, Saitama, Japan. A through passage crosses the site and links the surrounding streets, recalling the former Nakaginza Seven shopping street. Open plazas along the passage give pedestrians and office workers places to meet. The facade carries floating glass cubes with varying transparency, so the appearance shifts with the daylight. Natural materials, greenery and art are used in the interior workspaces. Energy-efficient lighting and passive design strategies support comfort and sustainability.
Nobuaki Miyashita's URAWA GARDEN BLDG. Office exemplifies the refined sensibilities of contemporary commercial architecture, demonstrating how vertical office structures may achieve visual distinction through careful material orchestration and proportional discipline rather than formal extravagance. The work participates in established traditions of curtain wall architecture while introducing nuanced variations that distinguish the tower within its urban context, most notably through the tripartite facade strategy that frames a central glazed core between solid flanking elements, creating a dialogue between transparency and opacity that serves both aesthetic and environmental purposes. Technical accomplishment manifests in the precision of the curtain wall assembly, where horizontal mullion alignments create measured rhythmic progressions up the tower's height, while the glass selection demonstrates sophisticated consideration of solar performance through its blue-gray tinting that moderates interior conditions while presenting a composed exterior appearance. The architectural strategy positions the building as both contextually responsive and formally assertive, its slender vertical proportion establishing presence without overwhelming adjacent structures, while the pale cladding and reflective glazing engage atmospheric conditions throughout the day, capturing sky reflections and shadow patterns that animate what might otherwise remain static surfaces. The ground-level treatment suggests attention to pedestrian experience, with the glazed entry volume creating transparency and welcome at the human scale, while young trees introduce biological rhythm and seasonal change to the mineral precision of the architecture. One might consider how such works mediate between corporate functional requirements and urban civic presence, between the technical demands of contemporary office environments and the aesthetic aspirations that distinguish thoughtful architectural practice, inviting contemplation of how vertical structures contribute to the evolving character of contemporary urban landscapes.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Urawa Garden Building is an office structure centered around a "through passage" that connects the city and its people. It inherits the memory of the former "Nakaginza Seven" shopping street, integrating passageways and plazas to enhance urban flow. Floating glass cubes on the facade interact with the cityscape, symbolizing openness and transparency. Inside, greenery and art installations create a stimulating workspace that fosters creativity and interaction.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Site area: 1,854.21 square meters
Building area: 1,159.37 square meters
Total floor area: 10,967.32 square meters
Structure: S (CFT), RC, SRC
Number of floors: 1 basement, 10 above ground
Max height: 43.7 meters
Eaves height: 43.1 meters - Tags
- architecture, office, urban design, passage, glass facade, sustainability
- Production Technology
- The facade integrates glass panels with varying transparency, reflecting urban layers dynamically. Natural materials harmonize with the surroundings, creating a warm and inviting office space. An energy-efficient lighting scheme and passive design strategies enhance sustainability and comfort, ensuring an environmentally responsible and user-friendly work environment.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was balancing commercial functions with public accessibility. By strategically placing the through passage and open plazas, the project strengthened the connection between office spaces and the urban fabric. The floating glass cubes required innovative lightweight structures and varied transparency to seamlessly integrate the architecture with the cityscape.
- Project Duration
- The project is located in Urawa, Saitama, Japan, and was completed in February 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The through passage seamlessly connects the building to the city, allowing both office workers and pedestrians to interact fluidly. Open plazas enhance community engagement, providing diverse activity spaces. The glass cubes on the facade capture light dynamically, shifting appearances throughout the day and reinforcing the building’s urban presence.
- Research
- Type of Research: Urban architectural design
Objective: Exploring the potential of offices integrating commercial and public space
Methodology: Analysis of historical urban transitions, urban-scale simulations
Data Collection: Pedestrian movement observations, visual simulations
Results: Creation of an urban-office hybrid through passageways and plazas
Impact: Enhancing pedestrian networks and establishing a new urban icon - Inspiration
- The design draws inspiration from the site’s historical layers, reinterpreting Edo-period urban structures and the postwar vibrancy of local shopping streets. The building reconstructs past pedestrian flows, creating an open urban space. The floating glass cubes symbolize the lights and energy of the former market, establishing a new architectural landmark that bridges tradition and contemporary urban life.
- Image Credits
- Image #1,#2,#3,#4,#5: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, 2024
- Patents
- N/A
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The public passage was conceived as a modern reinterpretation of Urawa’s historical street grids. By embedding a pedestrian route through the site, the building reconnects fragmented urban layers—linking the past of the old Nakaginza Seven street with the city’s new commercial axis. This architectural gesture embodies my belief that office buildings should not isolate themselves, but rather contribute to the rhythm of public life and collective movement.
The floating glass cubes express openness and lightness within an urban context dominated by dense structures. The varying transparency was inspired by the gradation of reflection found in water surfaces—sometimes revealing, sometimes concealing. This controlled transparency allows the building to act as both mirror and lantern, symbolizing the balance between visibility and quiet presence in the cityscape.
The Edo-period layout of narrow alleys and sequential courtyards deeply informed the project’s spatial rhythm. The through passage inherits that intimate scale, creating a layered urban experience that unfolds gradually. The design reflects how the cultural DNA of Urawa—its modesty and rhythm—can be reinterpreted within contemporary architecture.
We selected materials that evoke calm and continuity—white aluminum panels, glass, and living green walls. The integration of greenery is not decorative but conceptual: it symbolizes regeneration and the continuity between architecture and life. The resulting atmosphere blurs the boundary between work and relaxation, embodying the “symbiosis with greenery” that defines the project.
The main challenge was realizing the floating glass cubes within a lightweight yet rigid frame. We developed a hybrid structure combining steel and aluminum mullions with high-performance seals to ensure precision and durability. The process required millimeter-level coordination, but the result was a facade that appears weightless—an architectural expression of gravity suspended.
The through passage evolved from a functional shortcut to a symbolic public connector. During the design process, it transformed into a space that absorbs urban movement while offering a sense of calm. The continuous ceiling lighting guides pedestrians like a thread of light, creating an experience of transition—between exterior and interior, city and office.
Art plays a crucial role in shaping the building’s emotional identity. We curated works by internationally acclaimed artists such as Lee Ufan and Jim Dine to create a dialogue between art and architecture. Their presence transforms the workplace into a contemplative environment, aligning with the client’s “Vision Cycle” philosophy of continuous creativity.
We combined passive design strategies—daylight optimization, natural ventilation, and deep eaves—with energy-efficient LED lighting and smart controls. The building achieves significant energy reduction without sacrificing brightness or comfort. Sustainability here is not a technical requirement but a design ethic embedded in every spatial decision.
The project reaffirmed that future offices must go beyond efficiency—they must become urban ecosystems. By allowing permeability between workspaces and public life, architecture can foster creativity, empathy, and civic engagement. The URAWA GARDEN BLDG. Office demonstrates how an office can act as both workplace and public infrastructure.
Since its completion in 2024, the building has revitalized the surrounding district, attracting pedestrian flow and redefining the area’s visual identity. It has become a symbolic threshold where work, culture, and greenery intersect. This success reinforced my conviction that architecture should serve as a living interface between people and the evolving city.