TODA BUILDING by PLACEMEDIA, Landscape Architects Collaborative

The landscape design of TODA BUILDING is composed of a “Art square along the central street” and a “three-dimensional corridor connecting cultural facilities in the low-rise area. These two spaces are public spaces open to the community, created as part of a special urban renewal district to realize an “art and culture center open to the community” that takes advantage of the characteristics of the area.
Before the project, the buildings were built without any space between them, but through rezoning and reconstruction, an open space with a tangent of 80m and a depth of 30m was created, which was offered as a space open to the city through a square and an atrium. The project has created an open space of a scale not seen anywhere else along Chuo-dori Street, which connects Nihonbashi and Ginza, the urban center of Tokyo since the early modern period.
The plan is based on three themes: a green square that serves as the face of the city, an outdoor space that generates activity, and a square and terrace integrated with a multi-level corridor.

1: Geometry that forms the framework of the landscape
In the square and terraces, the framework of the space to enable the exhibition of art, the retention of people, and the development of events at various scales were designed. In the ground level square, the principle of the Voronoi diagram to create spaces of various scales was used, such as square that can accommodate events and alcove-like spaces where people can stand on a daily basis, through the arrangement and shape of planting strips starting from tall trees and architectural columns. The canopy of tall trees, the eaves of the building, and the pilotis create a comfortable square space.

2: Spatial composition coexisting with nature and furniture that induces activity
The planting zone of the art square is shaped like a three-dimensional polyhedron that has been cut. The cut surface is sloped, with the lower part of the slope in contact with the GL, and the higher side of the slope set at H600-1200, below eye level. The cut surface is composed of ground cover plants and shrubs of various plant species, creating a lush greenery at the foot of the 12-meter-high zelkova grove in the motif of a natural forest floor. The slanting angle also enhances the visibility of the greenery on the forest floor. Furniture is installed in the rising area around this planting strip, with a variety of seating, high counter, and table settings that allow people to spend time in a variety of ways on daily basis.
On the north side of the site, the existing roadway was abandoned and turned into a pedestrian-only space. There is a huge precast concrete table 10.8 m long and 1.8 m wide. 12 units of 0.9 m long and 1.8 m wide modules are combined to form the table and sofa benches. The precast concrete is made of white concrete, the same material used for the architectural walls, and the surface is polished to highlight the silver aggregate. It is also used as an outside workspace, which has become an established outdoor appearance for post-covid(19).

3: Low-rise multi-level corridor linked to the city of Kyobashi area
As a redevelopment that takes advantage of the characteristics of a city dotted with art galleries, small-scale galleries, museums and halls are introduced in the low-rise section of this project. A multi-level corridor connecting the city and each facility in the low-rise area is composed of the streets surrounding the project site, square, pilotis, staircases and escalators, and the lobbies of each facility. By arranging planted terraces along this publicly accessible low-rise corridor, the interior and exterior of the building are integrated, creating a multilayered three-dimensional space where the city’s alleys unfold in layers.
On the east side of the ground level, a green wall with exhibits and plants related to the history of the area was designed as a cultural and historical path, as the area has been a center of art and culture since the Edo period (1603-1868). The exhibit includes an explanation of the remains of the residence of world-famous Ukiyoe artist Hiroshige Utagawa and a portable shrine used in local festivals, and is composed of approximately 80 plant species, mainly plants depicted in Ukiyoe and plant species that served as motifs for the decoration of the portable shrine.

4: Simulation and Planting Base for Permanent Planting in Special Environments
When planning plantings inside and outside of high-rise buildings, we conduct simulations of wind and light environments, select plant species according to the environmental characteristics of the location where they will be planted, and ensure the appropriate quantity and quality of planting base according to plant standards, using architectural design and structure and worked with research institutions to examine and coordinate these issues, and ensured the permanence of the plantings, as well as the installation of necessary supplementary light and wind shelter.

• Other landscape architecture offices involved in the design of the landscape:
PLACEMEDIA, Landscape Design Collaborative

• Architecture offices involved in the design:
Toda Corporation Design Department

• Other credits:
Sign design: Hiromura Design Office
Lighting design: Tomoru Design
Art: “Public Art Program ‘APK PUBLIC Vol.1’ Atsuko Mochida ‘Steps’ 2024”