Kawamura Electric Inc. New Headquarters

Japan

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Kawamura Electric Inc. New Headquarters

Japan

Firm

KIAS

Type

Commercial › Office
Cultural › Gallery

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2026

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

BUDGET

Undisclosed

Kawamura Electric Inc. New Headquarters

Kawamura Electric’s new headquarters in central Nagoya was conceived as a new base embodying the future vision of a company whose origins lie in Seto, Aichi Prefecture. Rather than simply providing office space, the building brings together employees, clients, and the wider community. Alongside workspaces, it accommodates an art gallery and a multipurpose hall for approximately 110 people, forming an ensemble of work, culture, and social interaction within a hybrid workplace.

The exterior is defined by two contrasting material systems. The lower volume facing the street is formed by rough, heavily textured bricks manufactured in a local city, Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, while the upper volume is wrapped in a delicate grid of GRC (glass-fiber reinforced concrete). The two volumes are subtly displaced from one another in section, producing a shifting shadow line and allowing the building to be perceived as two distinct masses rather than a single monumental object. Within a neighborhood characterized by temples, apartment buildings, and small parks, this manipulation of scale acts as a form of architectural camouflage, reducing the apparent mass of the seven-story building and bringing it closer to the scale of the human body and its surroundings.

The GRC lattice functions both environmentally and architecturally. It moderates solar gain while integrating the window system within its depth, giving the façade a sense of lightness, depth, and permeability despite the material presence of concrete. Its refined sectional proportions were developed through a series of full-scale mock-ups and prototypes combining actual GRC members, steel structure, and window frames. These studies tested not only dimensions and junctions, but also the sequence of construction.

A similar attention to small dimensional differences shaped the brick façade. The bricks were developed in three different lengths. The mortar joints were recessed by 2 mm, while approximately one out of every four bricks were randomly projected by 4 mm. These almost imperceptible displacements generate subtle shadows that emphasize the outline, mass, and tactile quality of each brick. The act of assembling individual units is thereby revealed as part of the architectural expression itself.

Beyond the five-meter-high entrance door, a seven-story atrium forms the social and environmental heart of the building. It promotes natural ventilation while visually and acoustically connecting offices, executive floors, and the cafeteria, allowing the presence of people to be sensed across departments and hierarchies. A twelve-meter-long vertical garden and planting throughout the atrium, designed by French artist and botanist, Patrick Blanc, bring more than 180 plant species into the building, creating the atmosphere of a luminous forest ravine.

Artworks by Yojiro Imasaka, Takuro Kuwata and Hirosuke Yabe together with terrazzo stairs, handmade tiles, and brick counters, are woven throughout the building, creating a workplace rich in material, light, and texture. As the role of the workplace expands beyond efficiency toward creativity, communication, and belonging, the project proposes an architecture in which spontaneous encounters—with nature, art, materials, and above all other people—become part of everyday working life.

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Name: Kawamura Electric Inc. New Headquarters
Client: Kawamura Electric Inc.
Program: Office Building　
Location: Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Structure: Steel Frame
Site Area: 808.90 m2
Built Area: 540.93 m2
Total Floor Area: 3,068.44 m2
Completion: April 2026

Kentaro Ishida Architects Studio (KIAS)
Project Team: Kentaro Ishida, Satoshi Iiyama (Project Director)

Executive Architect: Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Main Contractor: Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Interior Contractor: Nomura Co., Ltd.
Green Wall Contractor: Ryokuensha Inc.

Consulting:
Structural Consulting: Building Structure Institute
Air flow Simulation: ZO Consulting Engineers

Photography: © Daici Ano
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