Fukushima, Fukushima
Japan
The SITES Gold certified head office of ADX, a sustainable architecture company, is located in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. This project site is surrounded by a rich natural environment including agricultural fields overlooking the Adatara Mountains. Given the abundance of nature and original landscape, the biodiversity observed on the site is very rich for all vegetation, insects and other living organisms. The deep-rooted company philosophy, “With the Forest,” was thus nurtured.
The current company headquarters was built in 2013, after the existing building collapsed in the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake that hit the Tohoku region in 2011. Ever since the earthquake, the new office building has brought the local community back closer together by first being the hub for earthquake recovery, but also by opening the facility to the community and holding socializing events after the recovery.
Some of the sustainable features that allowed the project to achieve SITES were the site’s high biodiversity and native species in the plantings, no chemicals used in landscape maintenance and reduced green waste due to existing large and mature vegetation. The new site was also designed to be resilient to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and heavy rainfall resulting from climate change. For example, the parking lot slabs have joints that allow rainwater to percolate through, and ample vegetation is designed to surround the periphery of the site so the rain water can be retained within the site, and even collect from the surrounding areas.
ADX's philosophy of “With the Forest” is not just a concept, but a business resolve and our way of life itself. As an extension of this, obtaining SITES certification for our office was a very natural choice. We have always approached each of our projects from the perspective of how architecture can be linked to the forest resource cycle and how it can coexist with the surrounding environment; the ecosystem, and landscape in which it is created. Receiving social and environmental recognition in the form of SITES certification for our workplace is more than just an improvement in our internal environment. It is an opportunity for us to quietly reflect on whether the ideas we have expressed in words are taking shape, and at the same time, it is an expression of our will to build a “place” where we can work together with pride. To create better architecture for the future, we need to lay good foundations, and acquiring SITES certification is the first step in this process, and a concrete practice to connect our philosophy with society.