Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek by Nobuaki Miyashita

Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek by Nobuaki Miyashita is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Ameh in Arsitektur Competition Category.

AmehArsitektur· 2026

Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek

by Nobuaki Miyashita

Client: Higeta Shoyu Co., Ltd.

A' Design Award Ameh Winner in Arsitektur Category

40,488
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #181285

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek

Higeta Building adolah kantua pusek batingkek tujuah di Nihonbashi, Tokyo, nan dirancang untuak pambuek kicap nan alah lamo badiri. Struktur beton batulang tu dibungkuih jo louver aluminium anodized nan dipasang jo jarak 300 mm. Sudut louver tu babeda-beda untuak mangurangi cahayo matoari dari arah barat dayo sarato manjago privasi, dan pamukaan e maingekkan ka ladang gandum nan bagoyang dek angin. Lapisan dindiang hitam pakek mampakuek bayang-bayang sarato marujuak ka proses fermentasi. Di dalam e, halaman cahayo di tangah maantakan cahayo siang ka danah nan sampik sarato mandukuang ventilasi alami musiman.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Ameh

Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek adolah pamenang A' Design Award Ameh, sabuah pangakuan nan sangaik bapresti nan dibarikan ka rancangan kelas partamo, mangaguikan jo cumelang. Pamenang Ameh adolah ciptaan nan sangaik inovatif, bapandangan jauah jo baka-kilauan mamikaik nan mancaminkan bakaik, kabijaksanaan jo kahebatan parancangnyo. Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek dipaokan manjadi panemuan nan sangaik dipuji, panetap kacenderungan jo monumental nan mambari nilai nan alun pernah ado. Rancangan nan manang Ameh iko adolah proyek nan mangaguikan jo dihargai nan maluaskan batas seni, ilimu, rancangan jo teknologi. Higeta Building Gadung Kantua Pusek malahiakan karinduan nan kuek, mambangkikkan gairah, mandorong kreativitas jo mamikaik kito.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Founded in 1616, Higeta pioneered adding wheat in 1697, shaping the prototype of koikuchi soy sauce at the root of Japan's cuisine. Honored by the Edo shogunate and later recognized by the Imperial Household, its heritage is translated into architecture. This 7-story RC headquarters in Nihonbashi uses anodized aluminum louvers at 300 mm pitch, with variable angles to cut southwest sun, protect privacy, and shimmer like a wheat field over deep black walls that evoke fermentation.
Dimensions & Packaging: 7-story reinforced-concrete headquarters in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. Site area 327.00 sqm; building area 260.32 sqm; total floor area 1,722.03 sqm. Height 29.085 m; eaves 27.720 m; floor-to-floor 3.95 m; ceiling 2.70 m. Zoning: commercial; front road width 11 m. Environmental device: anodized aluminum louver screen at 300 mm pitch with variable angles for solar control and privacy. A central light court supports daylight penetration and seasonal natural ventilation.
Tags: Headquarters, Architecture, Environmental facade, Aluminum louvers, Solar shading, Nihonbashi, Cultural heritage, Koikuchi soy sauce, Wheat motif, Urban identity
Production Technology: Facade: electrolytically colored aluminum louvers, bead-blasted then anodized, for a warm, durable sheen. Each louver is 50 mm (face) x 170 mm (depth) x 3,935 mm (height), set at 300 mm pitch with carefully varied angles. Angled plates are bolted to welded channel members for precision and cost control. Louvers continue across operable entrance doors so the facade reads as one layer. Black elastic spray coating deepens shadows and recalls fermentation richness.
Design Challenge: Challenge: on a narrow, deep Nihonbashi site, create a strong symbol while cutting southwest sun and protecting privacy for adjacent housing. The facade could not be heavy or closed. Identity, comfort, and buildability were unified into one continuous louver layer, tuned in pitch and angle as a climate filter. Another challenge was cultural translation: to show global jurors that Japan's everyday taste grew from Higeta's 1697 wheat innovation. History becomes geometry, shadow, and airflow.
Research: Type of Research: design research. Objective: translate Higeta's 1697 wheat innovation into facade performance and urban identity. Method: louver-angle studies and wind-inspired curvature refinement; continuity tests for joints and operable doors. Tools: BIM model and CFD airflow simulation for ventilation via the light court and operable openings. Result/Impact: a unified louver screen delivering shading, privacy, daylight, and seasonal ventilation, showing heritage can be performance.
Inspiration: The motif is wheat, introduced by Higeta in 1697 to define koikuchi soy sauce. We made cultural memory measurable: the facade reads as a wheat field swaying in a "wind of memory" across Nihonbashi. Louver rhythm and gentle undulation were refined through computational studies so invisible forces-wind, time, and fermentation-can be felt as geometry, light, and shadow, while also delivering real shading and privacy.
Project Duration: Location: Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan (2-3 Nihonbashi Koami-cho). Design: Mar 2023-Dec 2023. Construction: Feb 2024-May 2025. A 7-story RC headquarters on a narrow, deep urban lot in a commercial zone, facing an 11 m road. It presents a civic-scale facade that communicates the cultural origin of koikuchi soy sauce, born from Higeta's 1697 wheat innovation.
Operation Flow: From the street, the headquarters reads as a single louvered surface; shifting shadows suggest wheat heads in wind. The variable-angle screen filters southwest sun and sightlines, improving comfort for occupants and neighbors. Inside, a central light court draws daylight deep into the narrow plan. Operable windows on the north/south walls and at the court enable seasonal natural ventilation, supported by BIM-based airflow simulations.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Nobuaki Miyashita, 2025.
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, Higeta Building, 2025.
Image #2: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, Higeta Building, 2025.
Image #3: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, Higeta Building, 2025.
Image #4: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, Higeta Building, 2025.
Image #5: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, Higeta Building, 2025.