Shibuya Scramble Square the First Phase (East Tower) | Nikken Sekkei

Shibuya Station, the heart of Tokyo’s consumer culture, is Japan’s representative transportation hub for nine railway lines bringing 3.3 million passengers in and out every day. Aiming for a safe and pleasant city for all the visitors, in addition to its traffic convenience, Shibuya’s central area has been undergoing a major urban redevelopment with numerous projects to improve traffic flows around the station, construct disaster-resistant facilities, attract new industries such as IT, and enhance its global appeal as the cultural capital. Shibuya Scramble Square is the model project of urban redevelopment planning including a station, which stands right above Shibuya Station and consists of high-end offices, large-scale commercial facilities, a co-creation facility, and an observatory. The shape of the district around the station is as complex and inhomogeneous as the chaotic town itself. The project has three distinctive design features reflecting the district’s characteristics.  

“Urban Core” – Urban space connecting vertical movements

Because of the valley topography peculiar to this area, the arterial roads dividing the town, and relocation and extension/reconstruction repeated by railway companies, Shibuya was fragmented and became a city that is difficult for pedestrians to navigate. In order to solve these problems, the vertical atrium space dubbed as the “Urban Core” was designed to realize smooth longitudinal movements. The Urban Core made its presence known in the city with its unique “dented” tower form. Its façade features rows of louvers spiraling upwards, breaking up its enormous scale to provide a sense of continuity with the surrounding urban landscape.

Drawing eyes to the corners – Design to connect the super high-rise and the city below

In Shibuya, roads and railways radiate out from its center on the valley floor, making “corners” more visible than “sides.” The tower is designed to draw the eye towards its corners to correspond to the town’s urban landscape.    

Each pane of Low-E glass on the façade is over four meters tall. The shape of the panes transforms slightly on the tower’s corners, changing the appearance of their reflections. The white ceramic print placed over the glass panes is designed to increase its transparency towards the corners to create a visual flow. The flow starting at the lower portion of the building continues upwards to the rooftop observation deck just as the tower rising from the street to the sky.

“SHIBUYA SKY” – Observatory for escaping the city while being in it

The 230m-tall tower is crowned with the observatory, SHIBUYA SKY, featuring an outstanding panoramic view of Tokyo.

This vast observatory deck is intentionally left empty to free visitors from the hustle and bustle of the city. The deck’s perimeter is surrounded by transparent glass screens to provide the unobstructed 360-degree view and allow visitors to simultaneously feel Tokyo’s dynamic energy and a sense of unity with the sky.

As a new floating public space, SHIBUYA SKY connects Shibuya’s radiating townscape and rising skyscrapers.      

Project: Shibuya Scramble Square the First Phase (East Tower)

Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Project Type: Commercial, Offices, Observatory, Parking

Clients: Tokyu Corporation, East Japan Railway Company, and Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd

Design Architects: Nikken Sekkei, Kengo Kuma and Associates

Design and Supervision: Shibuya Station District Development Project Consortium(Nikken Sekkei + Tokyu Architects & Engineers + JR-East Design Corporation + Metro Development)

Site Area: Approx. 15,300m2 (including the Second Phase for Central and West Towers)
Total Floor Area: Approx. 181,000m2

Floors: 7 basement stories, 47 stories above ground

Building Height: Approx. 230m

Main Structural Systems: Steel, steel reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete
Construction Period: June 2014–August 2019 (63 months)

General Contractor: Shibuya Scramble Square East Tower New Construction Project Consortium (Tokyu Architects & Engineers and TAISEI Corporation)