Official opening ceremonies were held in January for JR Central Towers & Station, a new 4,800,000 gross square foot (446,000 square meter) mixed-use complex, the largest building in Japan. This distinguishes the city of Nagoya as the foremost center of transportation, commerce, and hospitality in central Japan.

It is the project of The Central Japan Railway Company, Ltd., created by design architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, master architect, Sakakura Associates, and general contractor and associate architect, Taisei Corporation.

JR Central Towers will serve as a central transportation hub linking a high-speed bullet train line, the national railway network, several commuter rails, and local subway and bus lines. The station remained in operation throughout the construction process.

A twenty-story podium houses the station concourse, a 13-story department store, and four levels of retail and entertainment that are capped by a glass-enclosed public "sky-street" connecting the office tower to hotel, convention, and ballroom amenities in the adjacent tower. The clean lines of the rectilinear podium maintain a relationship with the low-rise, urban fabric of the city.

Two cylindrical towers depart from the horizontal character of the podium, rising over 50 stories to create a dramatic profile that redefines the Nagoya skyline. The 59-story hotel tower, operated by JR Associa Hotels in conjunction with the Marriott Corporation, and the 55-story office tower are clad in precast concrete and glass and are capped by two levels of restaurants and a heli-pad.

The opening was marked by a traditional Shinto ceremony intended to ensure the health and prosperity of the building and its users. This opening holds particular significance because it marks the completion of a decade-long planning and construction process that was begun in 1989 and succeeded despite great fluctuations in the American and Asian economies.

Image: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

The Nagoya Central Towers & Station of the Central Japan Railway Company recently opened as the largest building in Japan. Topping a 20-story mixed-use podium are two towers for hotel and office spaces. Photo: Bill Schwebber/Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates Photo: Bill Schwebber/Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates Photo: Bill Schwebber/Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates Photo: Bill Schwebber/Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates