Make City by Architecture

The twin tower, planned since 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, has completed, at Tsudanuma Narashino-shi in Chiba Prefecture. The mixed-use buildings of shops and residentials, consist of 10-stories around 30 meters height, so that the term “tower” might be a bit of an exaggeration. The limited site generates slender tower-like volume seated on the podium (base) of commercial programs. As indicating in [Fig1] below, the left has named “West Terrace” and so as the right “East Terrace”, the design and construction have done in stages of Phase 1 and Phase 2. Each owned by different clients, the facade articulates a sense of unity and individuality as sister buildings.

[Fig1] West Terrace and East Terrace standing in left and right. The podiums coordinate in black tile but the towers express contrasting looks, aiming to create a balance of unity and diversity in the cityscape.

Mixed Use

We had a valuable opportunity of designing urban architecture accommodating local businesses such as retail stores and offices, rather than a single-purpose block consisting solely of apartment. The store base of the residential tower forms the foundation for maintaining the continuity of the streetscape of the shopping street existed before. The backyard layout or open service yard located behind the podium that functions a parking ground and an access to the residences, helps to preserve the clear edge of commercial main street. (Due to shadow regulations, the building volumes are inevitably pushed along the south side of the street.) The mosaic of various uses such as residence, business, culture and leisure, cradles lively humane city.

[Fig2] View from the southeast intersection; East Terrace sits in the foreground and West Terrace does in the background.

Anchor Tenant

Mixed-use space is an essence for creating a vibrant city, but in reality, it is difficult to guarantee good tenants merely providing space. Therefore, the key to the success of an urban development is to secure major tenants from the initial planning stage. “Anchor” refers to the equipment holding a ship to pier, it might be used as a metaphor for a tenant that firmly “anchors” a project. In this project, an appointment that the relocation of the bank, doing business originally on the site of the Phase 2 East Terrace, into the first floor of the Phase 1 West Terrace became a major driving force for the development. Furthermore, there was an agreement between the real estate company of 1st Phase client leading this project and the restaurant run by 2nd Phase client, to exchange their lands and moved into the West Terrace and the East Terrace. That is the owners themselves drove the project with passion and strong will.

[Fig3] View from southwest corner of the West Terrace, showing the bank of anchor tenant and the owner’s real estate company. East Terrace is in the back.

Street Amenity

The street in front of the building is a public promenade connecting the train station and the city hall. We have designed “stage sets” that make pedestrians to freely and easily stop by shops and take a break. At the southwest corner of the West Tower, “Spiral” (staircase) with “Umbrella” rounded roof magnets to the commercial terrace on the second floor as in showing in [Fig5]. The spiral base serves also as a bench for viewing the symbol tree and the street [Fig4].

[Fig4] [Fig5]　Umbrella & Spiral of West Terrace

Meanwhile, at the East Terrace, an approach stair covered with glass roof and its raised bench have installed to enhance the continuity between the walkway and the terrace. Moreover, a mosaic tile mural has displayed on the wall, adding color to the street as public art [Figure 6].

[Fig6] East Terrace podium elevation. Approach Stairs and Mosaic Tile public art. The building houses owner restaurant at the 2nd floor.

Green Corridor

The land adjacent along to the east side is the former riverbed of the Kikuta River, currently allocated as an uncertified road zone owned by the municipality, serving a lush green walking path or a valuable “Green Corridor” for its region connecting between sea and inland. There sits a large zelkova tree right next to the property, with many branches extending over onto the property. Luckily with the client’s requests, we did avoid cutting entirely down the tree from its bottom, instead by broadly pruning the thick branches growing into the site. The restaurant at the second floor holds a large horizontal window looking down the greenway, creating a space that enjoys fully its greenery picture view with the survived zelkova tree [Fig7]. Additionally, as Street Amenities, a secret bench has provided where people can take a break or eat their lunch while strolling. Rather than a closed exterior planting design within the site, we aimed for a landscape design that harmonizes expanding with the surrounding natural environment.

[Fig7] View of the East Terrace from Greenway. The secret bench is located behind the zelkova tree.

Medium-Scale Urban Design

In the city downtown core, even today, large-scale developments are ongoing over the place. The city scapes still keep changing radically. The dazzling towers and shopping malls designed competingly by star architects attracts people overflowingly like a festival when they launched. There is no guarantee of the same level of drawing power after 10 or 20 years. That “fatty” building of “humongous” tenant space is for large global corporations and not for small to medium-sized local businesses rooted in the community. Exemplified by “TAWAMAN, tower mansions”, massive residential skyscrapers in downtown areas have mostly fallen into investment targets, more and more out of people’s hands. Although the scale of this project has assigned by chance, it would assume that this is an appropriate or good plot size to maintain and coexist with the local economy and community. I believe that Medium-Scale Urban Design or urban community development by local stakeholders who are actually rooted in the place will lead to the regeneration of Human City.

[Fig8] Distant view of East Terrace, looking from City Hall Plaza

2026.05.11 HN