The existing Building 60 was completed in 1962 as Japan’s first supersonic wind tunnel. It was used as a supersonic airflow wind-tunnel laboratory and a high-speed internal fluid laboratory. When it became an aerospace research laboratory in 1964, the supersonic wind tunnel and the high-speed internal fluid laboratory were used by the aerodynamics department and the engine department, respectively. Later, it came under the management of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science until 1989, when it ceased to function due to several reasons including water leaks in the transformer room. The Building 60 renovation project aimed to secure floor spaces for research laboratories and archive storage, and to design a memorial hall with an archive centre for the 60th anniversary of the Institute of Industrial Science.

The first phase of the renovation focused on the research laboratory facilities. The complicated spaces of the existing building were reorganised by adding modern laboratory facilities to enrich the environment and to secure user-friendly spaces. In the second phase, the archive centre was completed. By retaining the existing structure, we were able to not only reduce the carbon footprint and environmental burden of the entire project but also to demonstrate over 50 years of history of the Building 60 and its passage of time through architecture.

For instance, the existing structural frame was not concealed by ceiling, and the ceiling treatment was kept as minimum as possible in order to express the material changes over period. To secure a space for utilities and plumbing without interfering with the external appearance of the existing building, external pipe shafts that were separate from the existing building were integrated. Internally, a raised floor system is employed on the second floor, housing services including under-floor air-conditioning system.


Location: Tokyo
Category: Education