Sumitomo Chemical Engineering Center Building, Corporate skyscraper in Makuhari, Japan
The Sumitomo Chemical Engineering Center Building is a 27-story office tower in the Makuhari district of Chiba, with a semi-circular roofline and a facade that combines white walls with blue mirror glass panels. The floors inside are largely free of supporting columns, which makes the interior spaces notably open.
The building was completed in 1993 to serve as a headquarters and training center for the company. Shortly after opening, it received the 6th Chiba City Excellence in Architecture Award.
The building sits in the Makuhari business district, which was developed from the 1980s onward as a planned corporate and technology hub outside central Tokyo. Its curved roofline makes it stand out among the surrounding office towers and gives the area a recognizable landmark.
The tower is about a 10-minute walk from Kaihin-Makuhari Station and is easy to spot from the surrounding public areas. Since it is a corporate building, access inside is generally limited to staff and scheduled visitors.
The building was designed by Nikken Sekkei, one of Japan's oldest and largest architecture firms, founded in 1900. The column-free floor plates inside were a technical challenge at that height when the building was completed.
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