Hatanaka Special Valve Industries – Yonezawa Factory
3-4452-8 Hachimanbara, Yonezawa, Yamagata, JAPAN
| Architect | Furuya Nobuaki+NASCA |
|---|---|
| Usage | Factory |
| Structure | S |
| Size | 2F |
| Site area | 15,906.55m2 |
| Area | 992.54m2 |
| Completion | 2015.12 |
| Award | Premium Award Selection, The Japan Institute of Architects (JIA), 2018 |
A project for a new office and factory building of a leading company specialized in manufacturing essential valves for use in power plants, etc. The most important theme for the design was to make a factory where people can work with a comfortable feeling, where workers are comfortable. Polishing metal valves, dance of the metal shavings - it is a work environment where cold metal sounds resonate throughout the day. So we thought of a factory space that would be more comfortable – a structure wrapped in wood that gives a feeling of warmth, with the surrounding greenery in the line of sight of the workers.
The 1st floor is the manufacture zone where the large machinery group operates; above it is a room that functions as an office. The 2nd floor is composed in a way where you can see the entire complex site and the surrounding greenery. We were able to provide a pleasant environment for the diligent administration section of the factory. Rather than adopting the logical steel frame for the entire building structure, the 2nd floor columns as well as the entire ceiling are made using wood, producing a softness of a wooden warehouse, unlike a regular factory.
At dusk, the underside of the eaves of the jutting out 2nd floor volume lights up like a paper lantern, giving a new elegant expression to the inorganic industrial district.
Photos: Asakawa Satoshi