URAWA GARDEN BLDG.

  • Prize
    Honorable Mention in Architectural Design / Commercial
  • Design Company
    Jones Lang LaSalle K.K. + MR STUDIO Co.,Ltd. + OBAYASHI CORPORATION
  • Lead Designer
    Nobuaki Miyashita / MR STUDIO Co.,Ltd.
  • Design Team
    Nobuaki Miyashita/MR STUDIO + Yoko Arai,Hikaru Takei,Shunsaku Tanabe,Tatsuya Uchijima /OBAYASHI
  • Architecture Firm
    MR STUDIO Co.,Ltd. + OBAYASHI CORPORATION
  • Interior Designer
    Nobuaki Miyashita,Yukari Hirose / MR STUDIO Co.,Ltd.
  • Lighting Design
    KOIZUMI Lighting Technology Corp.
  • Construction Company
    OBAYASHI CORPORATION
  • Project Location
    Urawa-ku,Saitama City,Saitama Prefecture,Japan
  • Client
    GARDEN GROUP
  • Project Date
    February 2024

The Urawa Garden Building is the headquarters for a leisure and amusement company, primarily managing pachinko halls. Located near Urawa Station in Saitama, close to Tokyo, the site sits along the Nakasendo, a historic road from the Edo period. Urawa Station, once a post town, remains rich in cultural and commercial allure with many Edo-period businesses still operating. The high value of properties along the roadway led to strip-shaped plots and narrow alleys that developed into bustling streetscapes with small eateries. "Nakaginza Seven," an arcade near Urawa Station’s west exit, became a vibrant hub. The Urawa Garden Building, with a total floor area of 11,000? and 10 stories, is planned on its former site. The design respects 400 years of urban development, recreating the scale of small eateries while modernizing them. A 70-meter-long thoroughfare cuts through the site, branching east and south to enhance navigability. The functional volumes along the passage are divided into small alcoves with a human scale focus. The exterior features glass cubes suspended above the passage, surrounded by staggered white volumes, evoking traditional Japanese streetscapes in a striking facade.

Bio
MR STUDIO Co., Ltd. is a premier design firm founded in Japan in 2017, driven by the mission to transform spaces into expressions of identity and purpose through innovative architectural concepts. Under the leadership of Nobuaki Miyashita, an architect with nearly three decades of experience, the firm has swiftly gained recognition for its forward-thinking and impactful approach. Each project undertaken is a testament to MR STUDIO’s dedication to exploring and fulfilling the potential needs of its clients, ensuring that every design embodies a distinct identity.

Other prizes
2007, Award of Excellence,IALD International Lighting Design Award,USA 2007, 2nd prize,PANTONE Design Award, USA 2007, Winner,Good Design Award ,Japan 2009, Winner, International Architecture Awards, USA 2009, Excellence Award, AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Awards,USA 2009, Winner,Good Design Award ,Japan 2011, Special prize, Asia Design Award, Hong kong/China 2012, Excellence Award, AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Awards,USA 2013, Winner, Good Design Award ,Japan 2016, Winner, Good Design Award ,Japan 2018, Finalist, World Architecture Festival Awards-Small Project of the Year, Singapore 2020, Winner, International Architecture Awards, USA 2020, Winner, Good Design Award ,Japan 2020, Platinum award, Nichiha Siding Award, Japan 2020, Winner, Wood design award,Japan 2020, Silver award, Japan Sing Design Association Award ,Japan 2021, First prize, AIA-JAPAN Award for Architecture, Japan 2021, First prize, Good Painting Color Award, Japan 2021, Silver award, Japan Sing Design Association Award ,Japan 2022, Winner, The Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Awards,USA 2022, Winner, International Architecture Awards, USA 2022, Excellence Award, Good Painting Color Award, Japan 2022, Winner, iF DESIGN AWARD,Germany 2023, Winner, The Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Awards,USA 2024, Gold Winner & Silver Winner French Design Awards, France 2024, Platinum Winner & Gold Winner & Silver Winner, TITAN Property Awards,USA 2024, Platinum Winner & Gold Winner & Silver Winner, MUSE Design Awards,USA 2024, Gold Winner & Silver Winner, New York Architectural Design Awards,USA 2024, Platinum & Gold Winner, International Architecture & Design Awards, Poland 2024, Gold Award & Silver Award, A' Design Award & Competition,Italy 2024, First Award & Second Award, Rethinking The Future Architecture Awards,India 2024, Winner, Green Good Design Sustainability Awards, USA 2024, Winner & Honorable Mention, DNA PARIS DESIGN AWARDS, France 2024, Red Dot Design Award,Germany 2024, AIA International Awards