Panasonic XC KADOMA

Panasonic Holdings is a global company that enriches the lives of people around the world by providing innovative solutions in a variety of fields, including home appliances, air conditioning and lighting. The building’s "XC” (“Cross C”) name was selected based on the concept of the four “Cs" of Choice, Collaboration, Communication, and Culture, for an office that aims to create a rich and unique co-creative stage in its locale. Here, workers are free to choose from a variety of environments where for increased productivity and motivation. Proactive workplace selection allows for a convection of people across floors, creating opportunities for collaboration and co-creation, and a new style of worker life to flourish. In order to realize this concept, we challenged ourselves to plan an open-air workplace that can be used year-round, and includes a three-dimensionally structured outdoor atrium terrace that enables a feel for nature through shifts in seasons, time, and weather. Alternatively, the outdoor atrium terrace can also be used as a place of comfort away from changing natural elements, in order to realize a healthy work life and mindset change. The placement of parasols, tarps and furniture was optimized according prevailing aspects of heat, light, and sound. The building also utilizes natural light and office air conditioning exhaust to create an air-conditioning-free, energy-efficient workspace. Zoning rules allow floors 1 and 2 to function as an open community space that welcomes people as a station-facing “internal building plaza,” equipped with a grand staircase for staging events. In a year's time, a bridge will connect the station to the 2nd floor, whereupon further active use of the building can be expected. Floors 3 through 7 feature exterior atrium terraces in a three-dimensional spatial composition that opens up with ascending height, as well as an office zone that surrounds the terrace. The office space is illuminated and ventilated on two sides by the natural light and breeze. A circular spiral staircase functions as a "communication walkway" that enables floor-to-floor movement. The 5th floor office lounge occupies the building’s middle floor and functions as the “communication core” for workers. By fully opening the facility’s fittings, interior and exterior spaces can be joined to create a “wellness space” where workers can feel the seasons, time, weather, greenery, and other natural elements wherever they may be, especially during seasonal transition periods. For the post-COVID-19 world, we hope that this location provides value in terms of human health and the environment that is unobtainable by working at home or in an orthodox office-based workplace, and that it will serve as a first step in providing an architectural office space answer in the “new-normal” era.