Tokyo’s first high-rise and architectural landmark is located in the heart of downtown, where government and major private business offices are concentrated. Urban growth changed the dynamics of the building’s surroundings and left its public spaces ineffective and barren. The addition of new mixed-use buildings provided the owners with an opportunity to bring life to the plazas and re-brand the complex. An invited competition resulted in a vibrant public space for the entire Kasumigaseki neighborhood. The concept employed the use of metaphorical light “moats” evocative of those that protected the ancient city. Whereas the split level spaces were once an impediment to access, the new design joins retail interventions and public open spaces into a singular synergistic environment in which one can socialize or find contemplative space.
Zelkova Plaza serves as the main entrance to the new Tokyo Club Building and its street level retail. Mature zelkova trees, a simple circular timber deck, public seating, a light wedge and a mist fountain space attract shoppers and office workers. The upper plaza serves as the Kasumigaseki Tower’s main entrance. A series of geometric landscape elements take their shape from the dynamic visual dialogue that emanates from the disparate building geometries that surround the plaza. A new glass retail pavilion with cafes and shops keep the space alive with activity. A parade of distinctive light wands imply direction through their architectural form and night-time illumination, converging on the plaza from three neighborhood and subway directions. Animated fountains, sculpture, and distinctive paving and planting patterns reinforce these settings as vibrant new public spaces for the neighborhood.
Beijing Finance Street
Awarded after an international competition, the Beijing Finance Center Master Plan creates an international destination in West Beijing. The project, which includes a mix of uses—housing, retail, hotel office and cultural facilities—is focused in terms of the landscape design on a central park known as “The Heart” of western Beijing. SWA’s wo...
Monet Avenue 2.0 at Victoria Gardens
A decade after completing Victoria Gardens, the owner was looking to refresh the project to keep it relevant for years to come. SWA redesigned a three-block streetscape and plaza along Monet Avenue, a main retail street there. The focus is on the next generation of users, with a shopping environment that highlights the social landscape and blurs the lines betw...
La Plaza Cultura Village
Located within El Pueblo, the birthplace of Los Angeles, La Plaza Cultura Village is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development totaling 425,000 square feet of retail, apartments (20 percent of which are low income units), cultural facilities, and public open space. Two large, surface parking lots have been transformed into a vibrant community that builds upon ...
Gubei Gold Street
SWA was selected to conceptualize, design, and realize a rare find in bustling Shanghai—a pedestrian mall (Gold Street). The corridor occupies three city blocks, is flanked by 20-story high-rise residential towers with retail at street level and book-ended by SWA-designed parks. Creating an iconic presence and enlivening the area, the mall features plazas, fou...