Gate Tower Building, Office building in Fukushima-ku, Japan
The Gate Tower Building is an office tower in Fukushima-ku with 16 stories, defined by the Hanshin Expressway running through its fifth, sixth, and seventh floors. The highway passes through at roughly 22 meters (72 feet) above street level and sits on independent supports.
The tower was completed in 1992 after a compromise between property owners and city officials over expanding the transport network. Construction began only after both parties agreed on this architectural solution.
Locals call the building "Beehive" (Beehive), meaning honeycomb or a lively place, a nickname that predates its 2008 renaming as TKP Gate Tower Building. Since December 2008 the operator TKP has leased the whole building and runs it as the TKP Garden City Osaka Umeda conference facility. A directory board on the ground floor lists the Hanshin Expressway company as if it were a tenant on floors 5 to 7.
The tower stands at Fukushima 5-4-21 in Fukushima-ku, a short walk from the Umeda area. The expressway deck enters the base through a rectangular opening, so the passing traffic is best seen from the street below. The building's own lifts are inside the two cores and serve floors 4 and 8 directly, skipping the highway levels.
The highway never touches the tower itself but rests on separate pillars standing beside the structure. Sound insulation fills the gap between the traffic lanes and the office walls.
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