Technopolis
Kisho Kurokawa

Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

The 123,000 square meter building, internally referred to as "Technopolis", will be the first major development in the Central Exchange - the cluster for the Infocommunications & Media (ICM) industries in One-North.

The design by Kisho Kurokawa was selected as the winning proposal in the International Competition on April 18, 2002.

Eco-Tec City is created by multi-dimensionally layering differing elements (residential, office, public services, commercial). The more layers, the higher the level of vibrancy. A Layered City is created by a new method called Vertical Zoning instead of conventional Horizontal Zoning


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

In principle, residences are placed in the top layer with Roof Garden that is beneficial from the perspective of both the scenic prospect and the privacy it provides. Offices are, in principle, zoned between level 2 and the residential layer.

To successfully apply Vertical Zoning, each building is clearly divided into a specialized core for office floors, specialized core for residential floors, and direct elevator to the sky garden and public service floor, and each is provided with its own entrance lobby on the ground floor level. While keeping these vertical zoning systems, it is possible to separately control each tower, with Plot A as RIC + Housing for RIC Researcher, Plot C as ICT + Housing, and Plot B as ICT Annex + Housing.


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

Narrow street on the ground surface are cracks (void spaces) of atriums opening to the level zero.  Natural light reaches underground level zero through the cracks (void spaces) in the ground. This crack (void space) is an atrium containing escalators and stairways linking level zero with level one, and it is covered with a roof of transparent glass.

The urban underground space that was formerly a black box is now visible from above through this crack (void space). Sidewalks at ground surface level guarantee a width of 4 m on the inside of the building line. The three-dimensionally layered artificial ground level (Super Slab) is occupied by gardens, groves of trees, urban public services, sports facilities, cultural facilities, stores, bars and restaurants, cafe and entertainment facilities. These are called the Common.


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

Eco-Tec City has a layered Super Slab. The urban structure of Eco-Tec City is artificial ground (Super Slab) with multiple layers: the underground is considered to be level zero ground, the surface ground to be level one, the above-ground floors to be levels 2 to Xn, and the roof-top artificial ground level to be level Xr. (Roof Garden).

The structure of the building is the most advanced super structure consisting solely of a core column and cantilever Super Slab. The buildings of Eco-Tec City achieve column free space thanks to the core columns and the Super Slab. The system of buildings proposed for Eco-Tec City must be expandable to the entire Science Hub.

The Super Slab also has equipment and mechanical space that is called the Mechanical Wafer.  Distributing the mechanical rooms inside the Super Slab allows the number of vertical ducts and piping space that are normally needed to be sharply reduced. People can enter the Super Slab to perform maintenance and repair work at any time.

Vertical air ducts (natural ventilation system from the interior to the outside) The void in the center of every building is a vertical fresh air channel that supplies clean air to every floor. It is a natural ventilation system that continually supplies filtered and compressed fresh air to every residential and office floor and discharges air from the interior through the space inside the exterior wall of the double skin. Polluted air outside the building cannot penetrate the building even if the windows are opened.


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

Because the exterior wall of the building is a double skin made of glass, wind pressure is not applied directly to the inner exterior wall, even during a wind storm, and there is no danger of polluted air penetrating the building from the outside.

And when sunlight strikes the outside glass of the double skin, the warm outside air is discharged from the top by a rising air current inside the double skin from bottom of double skin curtain wall with zeolite filter. The suction helps forcefully exhaust the interior air. Photo apartment


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

The master plan concept calls for high-density narrow streets (for pedestrians). Because this means that the buildings are close together, it is necessary to guarantee privacy. Priority is given to the inhabitants for scenic views and privacy by arranging residential parts of each building at differing levels.

Where an office part faces a residential part, the exterior wall of the office is recessed, and constructing a Sky Garden creates pleasant buffer zones that provide privacy to both the office and the residential sides. Outside glass of the double skin of the facade is screened so that it protects the privacy of the rooms behind it while remaining transparent.

Technically, this is done by printing a screen pattern on the outside glass so that the outside is clearly visible from the inside, but the inside  is difficult to see from the outside.


Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

The roof of the building is made of solar panels (new product) that are half transparent and symbolize an Eco-building that uses solar energy. By allowing part of the light to pass through, it supports the growth of trees in the Sky Garden. The solar panels are placed on the floor of horizontal Cat Walk for the maintenance in the double skin facade.

Sky Garden
Rooftop gardens (Sky Gardens) are planned for the roof or other level of each Super Slab, and all are linked with bridges increasing the frequency they are used.

Recycling of Home Garbage
Garbage produced from residential zones is composted or processed to form solid fuel. The former is used to fertilize the trees in the Sky Garden and the latter used as fuel for home generators.

Recycling Rainwater
Used water is purified for use as recycled waste water: for flushing toilets and watering the trees.  Rain water is collected from the sidewalks and used along with the recycled waste water.

Recycling Body Heat
Part of the heat generated by the bodies of people in the offices and other spaces is recovered for use as a heat source. The double skin sharply reduces the penetration of heat from the outside. The road pavement is all rainwater permeable paving that allows that part of rainwater not recycled to return to the ground for keeping eco-systems.

All these systems are the characteristics of a sustainable Eco-building.

Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates

Image courtesy Kisho Kurokawa & Associates