EBN project was engaged to build a cultural, commercial and educational complex in the urban epicenter adjacent to a transportation hub in central Japan. Situated next to a station serving multiple railway lines, the area is quite populated with commuters and visitors. Upon client’s request to design a complex facility to accommodate multiple tenants, we suggested a public place to drop by casually like a park in front of the station.

 

The lifted walkway bridged out from the station is smoothly connected to the public lounge furnished with wooden steps where people would spend time reading or waiting for friends. The curved staircase surrounds and descends to Megumi Hall on the ground level, a wide open atrium to hold events such as flee market, graduation exhibition of students, concerts for the community, etc. Its transparent facade would integrate the street with what’s happening in the hall.

 

The round plan on the ground level, posing a welcoming gesture towards the visitors, continues throughout the entire floors and displays a set of round slabs stacked up like floating bubbles, which are occupied as a ‘margin space’ to circulate or rest outside of the rectangular interior area. These terraces are filled up with trees and shrubs to provide gardens in the air that the occupants on the higher floor would feel surrounded by nature.

 

Standing in harmony with the greenery and the movement of pedestrians organically, the building is designed to provide an urban haven to promote social and cultural interaction with the community.