NEWS RELEASE
2024.04.16
The winners Mitsubishi Jisho Design In-house Award 2023 have been announced!
A wide range of new awards to recognize a wide range of services that meet the needs of modern society
Mitsubishi Jisho Design Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Junichi Tanisawa) has selected the winners of its In-House Awards 2023. This award is an awards system for outstanding projects that further improve planning, design and technical capabilities and contribute to the company's brand, and this is the 23rd time it has been held since the company was founded in 2001.
In addition to the internal judges, the "In-house Awards 2023" welcomed external judges, including Professor Masahiro Harada (Professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology, Co-founder of MOUNT FUJI ARCHITECTS STUDIO) and Takashi Kurabuchi (Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Vice President, and Chairman of the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan). Awards were presented in nine categories, including six Work Awards (including two Grand Prize Awards, two Excellence Awards, and two Work Awards), two Environmental/Technical Awards (including one Best Environmental/Technical Award and one Excellent Environmental/Technical Award), as well as new awards established in response to the expansion of our business scope.
[Purpose of each award]
Best Picture:
The awards are given to outstanding works that comprehensively evaluate each professional skill, such as planning ability, creativity, design ability, Structural Engineering, MEP Engineering, Cost Management, and Construction Supervision, as well as the degree of contribution to society through Landscape Design and environmental symbiosis, from the perspective of the results of collaboration between various professional skills.
Environment/Technology Award:
The award recognizes architecture, facilities (or a combination of these), urban environments such as parks and green spaces, townscapes, and other proactive efforts to contribute to the global environment, advanced efforts in business continuity plans (BCP) for the time of disasters, preservation techniques, renewal techniques, technical publications, and elemental engineering technologies, systems, and papers that have been compiled based on ideas originally conceived by our company.
Consulting Award:
In the context of the current social climate, the importance of consulting work is increasing, and this award recognizes outstanding technology and proposals that have contributed to business improvements leading to project completion or that have been socially recognized.
Project Management Award:
The award recognizes outstanding management examples that focus not only on the finished product but also on the production process, and take a proactive approach to design, technology, and quality.
+EMOTION Award:
This award recognizes not only our company's brand values of "comprehensive design capabilities," "urban insight," and "pursuit of essence and quality," but also particularly outstanding efforts to create new value.
Achievement Award:
This award recognizes outstanding achievements in the areas of work selected through competitive proposals, results in consulting work, and technologies that have contributed to business improvement.
Competition Proposal Award:
This award recognizes proposals selected through competitive proposal processes that are of social significance and contribute to our company's presence and business performance.
Employee Choice Award:
The awards for the Work Award and the Environmental and Technical Award that pass the first round of judging are decided and presented by employee vote.
Introducing the winning projects
[Best Work Award] TAMACHI TOWER
TAMACHI TOWER stands at a historically and geographically important point in front of a central Tokyo station. Its multi-layered exterior offers a glimpse of the creative and inspiring aspects of communication, including the semi-outdoor "Winter Garden." These measures aim to enhance the appeal of the workplace as well as the well-being of the people who work there, and the building also takes sustainability into consideration with passive mechanisms such as facade fins for shading from sunlight and natural ventilation, in pursuit of the "next-generation office standard" from a variety of perspectives. The comprehensive design will improve the functionality of the entire block, including the three-dimensional construction of an outdoor plaza and enhanced community contribution functions, and contribute to the development of the local area.
The proposal was evaluated as having resolved the complex given conditions through the comprehensive strength of combining structure and facilities, and creating a new type of tenant office building and workplace for the future, including the use of semi-outdoor space functions and the introduction of natural ventilation.
[Best Picture Award]
3rd MINAMI AOYAMA
This tenant office building stands on the border between the commercial district facing Aoyama-dori, Tokyo's leading thoroughfare, and the residential area that spreads out behind it. We aimed to create a building that would act as "urban development" by drawing in people from the main street with alleys and pocket parks on the premises, and by bringing high mobility to this dual-faceted area. The outer and inner balconies that characterize facade and other spaces that can be used in a variety of ways allow for diverse working styles, creating a workplace that enhances employee interaction and engagement.
The project was evaluated not only for solving the business conditions, but also for constructing a worldview from the designers' side, creating a composition that goes beyond the logic of conventional office building design, thereby creating a place for the local community where a variety of people can stay and move around.
[Excellent Work Award, Employee Choice Award] MUFG PARK (Library & Landscape)
Landscape
This project opened to the public bank-owned land, which has been preserved for over 70 years and still has a rich forest of trees. Based on a site survey, we planned facilities and paths that would not affect the trees, and worked to preserve the environment by allowing all rainwater to seep into the ground, taking into consideration the return of groundwater and the promotion of plant growth. By providing a variety of functions closely related to the lives of local residents, including a walkway around the perimeter of the site, we aimed to create a place where people can feel close to this precious nature and enjoy it together.
Library
We designed a library in "MUFG PARK" that will be made up of books donated by local residents as a facility to encourage people to interact with each other. The structure is a 4m high, 40m long "forest bookshelf" that visualizes the deepening of the community through books as a collection of books, and is covered with a large roof. The roof creates a veranda space for people to relax, and as an environmental consideration, it blocks sunlight and has achieved Zeb Ready certification. As a "library that everyone can grow together," various events are currently held here by the local community. An inseparable relationship has been built between the Landscape Design composition that emphasizes environmental conservation and relationships with the community, and the library, which is a small-scale building but has a sophisticated fusion of design, structure, and facilities in its neat details and conceptual expression, and our company was evaluated as expressing our company's presence as a "comprehensive design office" to a high degree of completion.
[Excellent Work Award] [Presenter Award] THE BANK OF FUKUOKA Minami-Kokura Branch
This reconstruction project was required to build an environmentally friendly bank branch. The building has a "layered" floor plan with non-air-conditioned rooms and back rooms located on the perimeter where the heat load from the outside is high. Passive methods such as carved openings prevent direct sunlight from reaching the interior of the building reduce the environmental impact, and the building has acquired Nearly ZEB certification. In recent years, steel construction has become the norm for bank buildings, but by using reinforced concrete construction (with earthquake-resistant elements on the perimeter), the design and structure have been integrated, and "MI Deck," a formwork and finishing material manufactured by MEC Industry, has been introduced inside. In response to society's demand for more wood, the plan creates a space with a warm and open feel while avoiding the risk of rising steel prices and construction delays. The reinforced concrete structure is finished facade, creating a simple yet bold appearance that adds character to the streetscape.
Given the many constraints of the site, surrounding environment, and building type, the project was recognized for its ability to achieve a sophisticated fusion of architectural expression and environmental consideration through an approach that goes beyond "design thinking" while keeping costs down, and for the way it was elevated to a work of art with the client's understanding.
[Best Picture Award] Shinryo Innovation Hub
This is a new facility by Shinryo Corporation, with the theme of stimulating people's "ability to feel" and allowing them to choose "FeELD (Feel + Field)" where they work. We propose "ABW + e (environment)" which adds lighting and air conditioning to the ABW (Activity Based Working / work style where you choose the place depending on the work). You can find a place to be from a variety of "places" where various environments are connected in a gradational fashion.
In pursuit of becoming a "Smart Wellness Lab," the building received the highest evaluation in each aspect, with a "ZEB" rating for energy efficiency and an S-rank rating for CASBEE Wellness Office in terms of comfort. The building was recognized for its efforts to go beyond the typical solution for environmentally friendly facilities and improve comfort by realizing large openings through solar shading with a grand roof and providing semi-outdoor spaces, as well as for its "full BIM" project up to the construction stage, and for its high level of completion through new endeavors.
[Best Film] The Grand Outlet - East Jakarta
This was a design project for an outlet mall in Indonesia, a country experiencing rapid economic growth. Combining the strengths of our company, which has ample experience in designing outlet malls across Japan, and our local subsidiary Mitsubishi Jisho Design Asia (MJDA), which has operational know-how in Southeast Asia, we undertook a series of initiatives from the upstream of the project to post-construction support. Despite the harsh tropical climate, environmental simulation and computational design enabled us to realize a comfortable semi-outdoor commercial space, with a glass roof that gives off an appearance of sunlight filtering through the trees. Through domestic and local collaboration, we were able to create a high-quality design based on the concept of "Shopping in Nature."
Not only did we export design knowledge, but we also demonstrated a highly effective solution that had not existed locally, namely "effective use of semi-outdoor space." This project was evaluated as one that is expected to be expanded in the region in the future.
[Best Environmental and Technical Award]
NEW task and ambient air-conditioning system: Beyond "ZEB"
The newly developed "NEW task and ambient air-conditioning system" combines floor radiant air conditioning, which has minimal temperature unevenness, with floor outlet air conditioning, which blows out heated air under the floor based on people's location information obtained by sensors, to create a localized air-conditioned environment. This air conditioning control, which takes into account the changing of the seasons and the transitions in people's activities and incorporates the concept of time, contributed to Shinryo Innovation Hub Main Building (awarded the Best Work) obtaining the "ZEB" certification. However, to achieve carbon neutrality (CN), which is beyond "ZEB," it is necessary to overcome various challenges, such as reducing CO2 emissions generated during construction. This technology contributes to achieving this goal by pursuing comfort.
This unprecedented system combines conventional methods with a reversible fan and digital control, and while it is a small-scale initiative, it has a significant effect on energy savings throughout the building.
The project was highly praised for its concept that delves into the nature of embodied carbon with the aim of achieving CN.
[Excellent Environment/Technology Award]
A new highly efficient core rod type vibration control system applied to a super high-rise office building (TAMACHI TOWER)
A new seismic control system developed and patented for installation in "TAMACHI TOWER" (Grand Prize Winner). The building core (core rod) of the lower floors is made of multi-story SRC earthquake-resistant walls, and the structure is isolated from the surrounding steel frame except for the upper part. The lower part of the core rod is supported by sliding bearings, so during an earthquake the surrounding frame deforms flexibly, while the core rod itself slides sideways as a rigid body. Since the upper part is connected, the difference in deformation between the core rod and the surrounding frame is maximized underground, so by concentrating dampers here, it is possible to ensure the same earthquake resistance performance while using only about 1/8 the number of dampers as in the past (distributed throughout the building).
Reducing the need for dampers increases the effective office floor space, and the core rods of the SRC structure reduce the amount of steel used, lowering construction costs and reducing CO2 emissions during construction.
This new, inexpensive, and highly versatile method for seismic isolation in high-rise office buildings, which had previously been considered difficult to achieve, was recognized as the result of our company's accumulated technical knowledge and abundant track record in designing this type of building over many years.
[Presenter Award] Tsuji Culinary Institute Tokyo
This culinary school is located on the border between a residential area and a university campus. In order to blend in with the surrounding environment of the site and the surrounding greenery within the building, the historic row of cherry trees was preserved and the exterior design echoed this, while the interior has been designed to create a space where nature can be felt no matter where you are, with clever use of the building's segmentation and openings. The interior of the building has been designed to eliminate boundaries created by doors and walls as much as possible, creating an open space where faculty and students, and students themselves, can exchange opinions and inspire each other at any time. In the practical rooms, which are reminiscent of restaurant kitchens and confectionery workshops, students can learn while imagining their future workplaces.
The project was evaluated for its aim to create an educational space that would foster a broad perspective on society as well as a place for technical training. It also showed a perspective on how to interact with the local community through the planning of the school facilities, and for achieving both comfort and energy efficiency through the efficient zoning of the kitchen and classroom areas.
[Consulting Award]
"Value-adding life cycle commercial" project that reflects the desire to be closely involved with the local community
This project aimed to increase the value of assets owned by The Johnan Shinkin Bank (a bank branch and employee dormitory) that were over 40 years old, in a sustainable way. The building's use and specifications were restructured (the surplus space of the bank branch was turned into a cafe, and the employee dormitory was changed to a share house/office, etc.), bringing vitality to the local area. In addition, accepting the bank's strong desire to value local businesses, we supported the creation of a system that included local businesses and the realization of work efficiency for those involved in the construction.
This management, which aims to increase value throughout the entire life cycle, is expected to be rolled out in a variety of projects depending on the building's use, scale, degree of deterioration, etc.
[Project Management Award]
(Tentative name) Kyoto-Joyo Premium Outlets® Infrastructure Development Works Architectural Design and Construction Supervision
Together with the client, he worked hard to coordinate the land readjustment project, including dealing with landowners, and obtained development approval while overcoming numerous issues in the land use plan, such as the relocation of high-voltage transmission lines within the planned site. As Construction Supervision supervisor, he persevered in dealing with various difficulties during construction, such as dealing with neighboring issues and coordinating with surrounding road construction.
Throughout the long-term planning, all team members came together and engaged in project management that prioritized improving customer satisfaction, guiding the completion of infrastructure construction work, which involved large-scale land development and the construction of public facilities.
(Drawing: Mitsubishi Jisho Design)
[Project Management Award] (Tentative name) Toyama Hotel Planning CM Project
This was a hotel construction project in front of Toyama Station. As this was the client's first time entrusting the management of a foreign-affiliated hotel, we selected the hotel brand with the cooperation of Mitsubishi Estate. We also carried out a series of management tasks, from volume checks to concept design, budget formulation, selection of design and construction companies and various consultants, CM work at each stage, and adjustment of costs and schedules.
A team with extensive experience in hotel design provided detailed support to the design and construction team, and the hotel opened as "DoubleTree by Hilton Toyama" in January 2023. This project was highly praised by both the client and the hotel.
[Project Management Award] MORITA HOLDINGS CORPORATION New Base Development Project
The Morita ATI (Advanced Technical Innovation) Center is a new research and development base for a company that manufactures and sells fire engines and disaster prevention related products. The aim was for the building to be a core building that would create and promote diverse innovation through industry-government-academia collaboration. In creating a base consisting of one of Japan's largest comprehensive testing facilities, a tower building used to demonstrate new technologies in firefighting and rescue activities, and a laboratory building with a co-creation space, we worked with researchers to come up with a "place that will support the expansion of research and development." This project is imbued with the desire of all involved parties to create a safe and secure society, fully demonstrating management capabilities in the face of social conditions such as the recent rise in construction costs.
[+EMOTION Award]
SMS: Seamless Mobility System Proposing a new form of mobility that connects cities, buildings and people
In the midst of the demand for smart cities and new mobility proposals with an eye to the future, our company proposes the "SMS: Seamless Mobility System". This is a system that aims to fill the "gaps" that arise when moving through urban spaces, allowing everyone to experience urban spaces more freely and in a three-dimensional way. The booklet, which summarizes the ideas "from a design office" to realize seamless movement through various types of mobility and realize a new social infrastructure that dissolves the boundaries between cities, buildings, and people, has received a great response from within the industry and other sectors. In addition to registering the design of some models and creating actual prototypes, we aim to further advance and develop our proposals by addressing social issues not only in cities but also in local areas.
[+EMOTION Award]
4D Marunouchi Experience the Maru Building of three generations in the metaverse
Since our founding in 1890, we have inherited old drawings and photographs for over 130 years. We developed "4D Marunouchi" to allow you to experience the historical architecture and city that remain here in the metaverse. You will travel through time to Marunouchi, where three generations of "Maru Buildings" stand, from before and after the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923) to today's appearance after its reconstruction in 2002. The "open archives," which anyone can easily access through the online game "Fortnite," will not only preserve the materials, but also widely communicate the changes in the city and its charm. This project looks to a future where the real and digital overlap through the development of digital twins and interaction with users.
[+EMOTION Award] Veneti-An Tea House / Arabi-An Tea House teahouses made from food waste from around the world
This is a series of teahouses that will be the first in the world to use food waste as a structure, and will be presented at the Venice Biennale and Dubai Design Week in 2023. As a common mechanism for global deployment, a form-generating algorithm has been developed to create comfortable spaces by manipulating sunlight based on the latitude of each region. At the same time, building materials are refined from local food waste (not mixed with resins, etc.), and the pavilion is "returned to the earth" with naturally derived waterproofing materials. The series of building materials made from small pieces of wood fit into a suitcase, and CO2 emissions during transportation are reduced through self-transport and self-construction. This is an approach to "global and local" and "resource circularity."
[+EMOTION Award] Comprehensive design support for the establishment of Mitsubishi Estate Southeast Asian base
Mitsubishi Jisho Design Asia (MJDA) has been involved in Interior Design of various Mitsubishi Estate Estate offices in Southeast Asia. Mitsubishi Jisho Mitsubishi Estate (located in Bangkok) has been added to the office series, which has embodied uniquely Japanese quality in its spaces with the theme of "fusion of Japanese and local cultures." In addition to the interior design that responded to the new image of the office, which is "the local post-COVID-19 way of working" and "serves as a showroom for the country's tallest building, One City Centre, designed by Mitsubishi Estate Jisho Thailand," MJDA provided comprehensive Interior Design, utilizing the know-how it has accumulated in the region, including selecting contractors and adjusting costs and on-site. This project demonstrates Mitsubishi Estate Group 's overseas expansion and high competitiveness.
[Achievement Award]
(Tentative name) architectural design and construction supervision of new hotel building construction on former transportation bureau site (Sheraton Kagoshima) *As part of a series of achievements
Kirameki Terrace a complex redevelopment project that has been underway on the former site of the Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau. In this development, our company has been responsible for architectural design and construction supervision of Kirameki Nangoku Parking, Kirameki Energy Center, Kirameki Terrace Healthcare Hospital, Imakiire General Hospital (2020), and Kirameki Nangoku Building (2023).
A hotel building also designed by our company will be completed, and the Sheraton Kagoshima, the prefecture's first foreign-owned city hotel, will open in time for its full opening in May 2023. Kirameki Terrace which has medical ties and energy management through the consolidation of heat sources, has attracted attention as a pioneer of compact cities, and the hotel functions are expected to contribute to the development of the local tourism industry and job creation.
[Achievement Award]
Winner of the 2023 Energy Conservation Grand Prize, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award - Takasago Thermal Innovation Center
The Takasago Thermal Innovation Center (Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki Prefecture) is a project that makes use of our company's high level of expertise in environmental design. Since its completion, the facility has won numerous environmental awards both in Japan and overseas as a pioneer in carbon neutrality by making maximum use of renewable energy, including the implementation of groundwater, solar power generation, biomass generators, and large-capacity storage batteries, while pursuing user comfort. In January 2024, the facility won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (Business Category), which is the highest award in the Energy Conservation Grand Prize, for the first time. Through these awards, related paper publications, magazine articles, etc., we are introducing our high technical capabilities and collaboration capabilities.
[Other projects nominated for in-house awards]
ENEOS Multi-Mobility Station
This project aims to expand micromobility sharing services. As a response to the super-aging society, micromobility supports short distance travel, and in anticipation of the shift to a carbon-free society, electrification of micromobility is also important. As a facility that serves as a showcase for the penetration of new technologies that will change society, it was designed with the aim of becoming a core for local communication with an open structure. CO2 fixation is also achieved by utilizing timber (CLT). As with the electrification of mobility, the facility itself appeals to efforts to address social issues. This is a project that has the potential to be developed for future energy policies.
NAKAMICHI ATSUSHI
Showabond Construction North Japan Branch
This was architectural design and construction supervision and project management (PM) initiative aimed at creating an environment that would realize the company's new ways of working. The offices, which are spread out around the atrium that runs through the center of the building, are dotted with tactile interior materials such as wood and tiles, promoting employee interaction in a sense of openness. Passive energy-saving methods that make use of directional characteristics and equipment installation plans were implemented throughout the building. A combination of highly versatile technologies and a high level of comfort led to the achievement of ZEB certification. This is a model project for an environmentally friendly medium-sized office, which was completed within a limited time frame after PM placed emphasis on risk management of social conditions and cost fluctuations during the construction period.
Expansion of district heating and cooling facilities in the Osaka Station area and introduction of HEAT DX
district heating and cooling is attracting attention as a way to realize a carbon-free society. Together with Osaka Energy Services, we have pursued the design of a district heating and cooling facility (DHC) plant that boasts the highest level of efficiency in the Osaka Station area, as well as optimal operation and maintenance. Today, in order to further expand this, we are working to resolve the various social issues surrounding DHC (the pursuit of energy conservation, the shortage of engineers, etc.) by using AI to support operations and digitalize maintenance management.
We have begun a demonstration experiment of "HEAT DX", which systematizes this series of efforts. With the future expansion of our services, we aim to contribute to society from both the environmental and economic perspectives. This proposal aims to provide a demand response service with an eye on the future priority issue of "introducing electricity from renewable energy sources to large-scale power transmission networks."
Second Plant
Contact for inquiries regarding this matter
Mitsubishi Jisho Design Inc. Public Relations Office
TEL 03-3287-5001