Memuro Town Hall

This project is for a town hall for Memuro Town, located in the Tokachi region. Taking advantage of the site, which serves as the focal point for the center of town and clusters of public facilities, we aimed to create an open town hall at the core of a walkable town development.
With a straight design and a stacked square plan on the limited site, the third floor was set back in order to give it an appearance of blending with the scale of the surrounding residential area. The deep space under the eaves on the second floor, which overhang on all four sides, protects against rain and snow, acts as a buffer space between the town and the town hall, and connects the inside to the outside. The first floor is entirely enclosed in glass and can be freely accessed from three entryways that are directly connected to the streets. The space was designed to appear as if the pilotis were placed internally so that the entire first floor can accommodate the townspeople.
The office space located at the center of the square plan while movement paths designed to go around it. The office area uses a universal layout without a chief desk, eliminating wasted space and boosting efficiency. The peripheral structure absorbs natural light and heat, providing even lighting and a stable thermal environment to the office area.
For the structure, considering that the building functions as a town hall which requires a large office space, a seismic control structure using seismic control dampers was installed at the first floor of the steel moment frame structure. Besides ensuring high seismic performance, this allowed for a flexible town hall that can accommodate future organizational changes.