Katsuki Medical Building

Renovated façade incorporating three diverse elements

Katsuki Medical Building

Hiroshima-city, Hiroshima
DETAIL DESIGN
Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei / Hiroyuki Sugimoto + Takushu Arai
DETAIL CONSTRUCTION
KAJIMA CORPORATION
DETAIL SUMMARY OF WORK
This was originally an office building close to the city centre of Hiroshima. The aim of the renovation project was to repurpose the building as an urban medical complex. Because there were plans to reinforce the existing structure, thereby ensuring the structural integrity of the building, there were only 250mm between the existing facade and the boundaries of the property. Key was how to create a memorable screen within the restrictive constraints of the project.

Three transparent materials were incorporated into the new facade design. The first material was high-transparency pair glass with ceramic printed stripes. The second material was cast aluminum which glistened under the light. Adequate reflection was to achieved by using a rhombus-shaped chenille pattern. The last was element was the tear-shaped aluminum louvre which reflected light differently depending on the viewing angle. For each element, constrained by the existing conditions, we examined various possible impressions, both from the outside and inside of the building that could be achieved, working with the architect on a BIM platform, and arrived at the optimal pattern, shape, and angle. We sought to optimise the visual effect of each element through consideration of actual samples and mockups, in addition to computer simulation. Particular attention was paid to the glass interlayer to maximise transparency, the texture of the surface pattern through the use of the aluminum cast, and the randomised effects of the aluminum louvre configuration by tweaking the angle of placement.
POINT
As a crucial point of this project was the standardisation of the fixed anchors and accommodating the facade to fit the existing structure, the screen with an L-shaped continuous form had to be unitised. Although the three elements had to be installed in different ways, by calculating backwards from the perspective of installation, we were able to achieve the best fit with the existing structure and leave an allowance for maintenance, under the very limited spacial constraint of 250mm between the building exterior and the boundary of the property.

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