Tokyo Famous Shibuya Hikarie Complex Shortlisted as Finalist at 2013 MIPIM Awards

- Shines Lights on Modern Japan Architecture Development

CANNES, France, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shibuya Hikarie Complex by Nikken Sekkei Limited, one of the world's largest architectural design firms, has been shortlisted as finalist of the 2013 MIPIM Awards. Shibuya Hikarie is a 34-floor commercial complex launched in Tokyo in April 2012. With the top levels tailored for offices, the middle levels features theatres and event facilities for cultural needs, and the bottom levels occupied by a shopping mall called ShinQs, targeting career women in their late 20s to 40s.

"We are pleased that our project, Shibuya Hikarie, has been shortlisted as finalist for 2013 MIPIM Awards. Looking at the superb quality of all other nominees, we are proud to be one of them. We have created a new landmark in the city despite complexities posed by urban planning and proximity to railway lines," said Mr. Nakamura Mitsuo, the Chairman of Nikken Sekkei group.

The design concept of Shibuya Hikarie is to create a lively, open, and synergistic space with an exterior reminiscent of a stack of blocks. Its distinctive facade evokes the vertical city, with its blocks like urban districts and the elevators running through it functioning like "streets." To accommodate the vertical lines of movement in this complex volume, Nikken Sekkei created a circular atrium "urban core" rising from the basement 3 levels to the 4th-floor aboveground. Exterior light pours into the semi-circular atrium space, which provides ventilation to the subway below concourse, helping to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1,000 tons annually.

Nikken Sekkei's greatest strength lies in its comprehensive integration of urban planning, architecture, structural engineering, services engineering and landscape design. With the further resources of the group companies, from city visions to interior detailing, the Company aims to provide a total holistic multi-disciplinary design service. Nikken Sekkei is one of the few professional service firms in the world to have over 110 years of history.

Through the Company's projects, Nikken Sekkei hopes to make a successful contribution to the enhancement of the quality of global society and environment.

About Nikken Sekkei Limited

One of the world's largest architectural design firms with over 2,500 professional staff, Nikken Sekkei and its eight Group companies offer comprehensive design, engineering, management, consulting and R&D services. Established in 1900, the company's portfolio consists of over 20,000 projects in 40 countries. Its activities cover a wide spectrum of sustainable public and private endeavors including: new city design, high-density/mixed-use transit-oriented developments, super-high rise buildings, business parks, offices and facilities for commercial, cultural, educational and healthcare use. Nikken is headquartered in Tokyo and maintains branch offices in China, Korea, Vietnam and the UAE. The regional branch in UAE, oversees the activities in CIS, MENA and India.