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Mori Building, a leading urban landscape developer, will start constructing two new skyscrapers at Toranomon Hills, one for business beginning in February and the other for residences beginning in March. A groundbreaking ceremony for the business tower was held this week and a separate ceremony for the residential tower will be held on Jan 24.
The two new towers are special designated projects within the national strategic special zone. They are part of a large-scale development involving three new towers in addition to the existing Toranomon Hills Mori Tower that Mori Building announced in April 2016, as well as a new subway station planned for the Hibiya Line. The plan is to transform the the whole Toranomon area into a vibrant, globally accessible hub for business, residence and leisure that attracts enterprises and individuals from around the world.
Toranomon Hills Business Tower (tentative name), which is planned to be completed by December 2019, will offer 94,000 square meters of office space spread across 36 floors. An Innovation Center on the fourth floor will serve as a focal point where corporations and venture companies will interact and collaborate. Some 6,300 square meters of space will be for shops and restaurants to expand and enrich the Toranomon business community. The tower also will house a large bus facility comprising a new BRT station connecting Tokyo’s central and waterfront areas and a terminal connecting the Toranomon area directly to two international airports serving Tokyo. The aim of these developments is to transform the Toranomon area into a primary Tokyo gateway for international business.
Toranomon Hills Residential Tower (tentative name), which is expected to be completed by April 2020, will offer 550 premium residential units, unprecedented for the Toranomon area. At 220 meters and 54 floors, this will be the tallest residential tower in Japan. Residential options will include spacious residential units and convenient serviced apartments. Special features will include Mori Living’s sixth membership-only Hills Spa with a 25-meter pool, gym and beauty salon. A 200-square-meter party lounge and guestrooms will further enhance the unparalleled experience of living in Toranomon Hills Residential Tower.
German architect Christoph Ingenhoven, who has directed the external designs of both towers, says, “Toranomon Hills’ new business and residential towers will blend harmoniously with the existing Toranomon Hills Mori Tower. I designed the towers based on Mori Building’s Vertical Garden City concept and with careful consideration for the harmony of the towers’ vertical and horizontal lines, and also to connect them with the surrounding green spaces, including Mt Atago. Rooftop landscaping will help mitigate the heat-island phenomenon while giving definition to the buildings themselves. I am confident that the design and environmental performance of these two new towers will strengthen Toranomon Hills as a global business hub.”
New York-based designer Tony Chi, the interior designer of Toranomon Hills Residential Tower, who was also responsible for Andaz Tokyo and the Toranomon Hills residence at the existing Toranomon Hills Mori Tower, says, “It is my great joy to undertake the interior design of Toranomon Hills Residential Tower, an inspiring and visionary residential development of the Mori Living series. It will be a home for those that appreciate global culture and lifestyle built on local heritage, a duality of tradition and contemporary life. I hope to see Toranomon Hills established as a community inspired by yesterday and looking towards tomorrow, a new destination for Tokyo.”
Japanese interior designer Masamichi Katayama, who is in charge of interior design for the retail facilities at Toranomon Hills Business Tower, says, “During the medieval Edo period, Toranomon was close to Edo castle so it was famous for shops catering to the needs of the shogun, feudal lords and samurai, all of whom were nearby. I designed the lower part of the Toranomon Hills Business Tower with a strong awareness of the area’s rich history and traditions.”
Toranomon Hills will gain further momentum as an international hub and global business center when Mori Building completes the third tower, Toranomon Hills Station Tower, which is scheduled to open in 2022. Upon completion, the total area of the Toranomon Hills complex will reach about 7.5 hectares, including the four Toranomon Hills towers, new transport stations, roads and green space. There will be about 800,000 square meters of total floor space, approximately equivalent to that of Roppongi Hills, including about 300,000 square meters of office space and 26,000 square meters of retail space.
© Japan Today
9 Comments
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Pukey2
Where the heck are the hills?
MarkX
It's funny, just a few days ago there was a report in JT that there was now a glut of office buildings and that many companies are worried about rents already dropping as companies move into the newly constructed buildings, and others move out of the extremely high priced offices. Now here we have Mori come along, promising more office space, but I guess, since they are targeting foreign firms and expats, then they don't have to worry.
mrsynik
Why do they call these glass enclosed concrete eyesores 'Hills'? Hills are pleasant to look at - this junk isn't.
edojin
Oops ... made a big error on this one. Didn't mean to say Roppongi ... but my other favorite area that used to lie around Toranomon Hills. This is eating into the Shimbashi area ... another haunt of mine ... which will someday go the way of ultra-modern buildings.
Tried to send this after sending the first comment, which as soon as I hit the send button realized it was wrong. Had to wait for someone else to make a comment as we can't send two comments in a row. So glad "Spanki" made the comment so that I could send this. Gotta get my thinking under control ...
It's Toranomon Hills ... not Roppongi Hills. Wait until Yotsuya Hills, if that is what it's to be called, is completed. More confusion. Too many Moris and too many Hills ...
Spanki
Yawn, these building are rubbish, Toranomon Hills is so pokey, not interesting at all.
edojin
For we oldtimers ... there goes that area of Roppongi to modernization. Guess it's just a matter of time before the rest of the "Gaijin Ghetto" also goes the way of the disappearing Roppongi nightlife area.
Goodlucktoyou
Just in time for the big predicted earthquake.
SenseNotSoCommon
Here's an idea to draw people into the area:
Shintora Dori, (the Champs Elysee wannabe between Toranomon Hills and - almost - Shimbashi Station) pedestrianized except for electric shuttles between the two points.