Building overview

A “rustic modern” town hall that heralds a future
where humankind and nature can coexist in harmony

Location

773 Nobusawa, Kaisei, Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa

Site area

7,699.27 m²

Building footprint

2,150.16 m²

Gross floor area

3,893.19 m²

Floor count

3Structure

Reinforced concrete structure (partially steel frame) with base isolation

Kaisei Town Mayor

Kaisei Town Council Chair

Height16.39mElevators

1 stretcher-accessible passenger elevator (capacity: 11 passengers)

Yuichi Fukawa

Toshiro YoshidaNo. of parking spaces

89 (for visitors)

In t ro d u ci n g t h e n ew K a i sei T o w n hall

• 1 EV charging space• 6 omoiyari parking spaces (for people who require special care)
EV charging equipment

2 fast EV chargers (1 for official vehicles only)

No. of bicycle/motorcycle parking spaces

69

Construction schedule
Start dateJuly 25, 2018

Building completed

November 29, 2019

Project completed

June 30, 2021

Design/supervision
MHS Planners, Architects & Engineers Ltd.; Yokohama OfficeContractor
Taisei Corporation, Yokohama Branch

Town hall construction project cost
[Project cost](10K yen, tax included)

Town hall
New town hall building
construction
Outdoor facilities
Total construction cost

[Resources]
Funds

Fund for public facility development 41,500

16,080Subsidies

General subsidy for government
infrastructure reinforcement

1,344

General grant for social
capital development

1,400

Subsidy for projects for
reducing CO2 emissions, etc.

44,618Design / construction supervision 14,422
Costs for investigation, etc.

3,764

Miscellaneous expenses (total)

18,186

Deconstruction Swimming pool

Total

1,943

Subsidy total

Old town hall building

13,799Total deconstruction cost

15,742

Bonds

Municipal bonds

Design620

Other

General fundCosts for investigation, etc.

144

Total

Miscellaneous expenses (total)

764

Basic Principle

SafetyAjisai (hydrangea) lattice ceiling, high windows

Serves as a center for safety that protects
the everyday lives of residents evenin emergency situations.

47,362
188,090
15,665
292,617292,617

Basic Principle

Basic Principle

Highly efficientand long-lastingOpen

Built to flexibly respond to residents’needs and social changes.

Kaisei Town Hall
Address: 773 Nobusawa, Kaisei,Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa 258-8502
Phone: 0465-83-2331 (main number)

I would first like to offer my sincere congratulations on thecompletion of the new Kaisei Town Hall.
It brings me immense joy to be able to celebrate this momentous
occasion together with my fellow Kaisei townspeople.
Kaisei Town was founded in 1955 through the merger ofSakata Village and Yoshidajima Village. Today the town boasts
the highest population growth rate in Kanagawa prefecture,and the Kaisei railway station is served by all express trains. It
has grown into a town endowed with a wealth of local
resources, including its lush nature and rich culture and history.
The progress our town has seen to this day would not havebeen possible without the perseverance and dedication of
those before us, for which I thank and admire them deeply.
I can only hope that our great townspeople continue to honor
us with even stronger support and cooperation toward a
Kaisei Town that is in step with new era.
It was in December 2015 that a special investigation committee
was set up to plan for the new town hall. I remember fondly theextensive discussions we had over many aspects of theproject, such as what the convention floor should look like, how
to provide a user-friendly one-stop shop for our residents, andthe best work environment for our town officials.
We at the Kaisei Town Council are committed to honoring thelegacy of our predecessors who labored to better the town,
and will continue to strive to pursue the mandate bestowed
upon us by our townspeople to make our town safer and aneven more wonderful place to live.
I would like to close this address by expressing my sincere
wishes for the greater welfare of the people of Kaisei and thecontinuing progress of our beloved town.

(10K yen)

241,845257,925

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my fellow
townspeople and everyone who made possible the completion of
our new town hall and the development of its surrounding areas.
When I first took office as the mayor of Kaisei Town, Japan wasreeling from the repercussions of the Great East Japan earthquake
and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that followed.
I visited the disaster site personally, and what I saw there
brought home to me just how crucial it is to protect the lives
and assets of our residents, and to make use of renewableenergy. I came away with a deep conviction that we needed a
new town hall that was environmentally friendly and could
flexibly serve as a disaster prevention location.
This town hall was not erected simply to replace an oldbuilding. Our aim instead was to build a “home base” that could
sustainably provide our townspeople with an expansive rangeof top-quality services, from everyday administrative operations
to emergency disaster response, for the next 100 years.
We had extensive conversations with our townspeople andcarefully deliberated within the town government on what wasneeded to achieve this goal, and as a result were able to create
the country’s first government building to be certified as a ZEB.
To allow this new town hall to be its absolute best, it is imperativethat we explore and continue to interrogate how we can better
serve our residents, and that our town officials be prepared toflexibly revise how they do their jobs as times and needs evolve.
We will continue to strive to keep our residents truly satisfied.

Kaisei Town
P-B10271

A usable, accessible town hall thatprovides one-stop service while also
taking privacy into account.

Basic Principle

Basic Principle

Welcoming

Eco-friendly

A bustling venue for encounters whereresidents can casually drop by.

Less burden on the environment;
lower life cycle cost.

School board
superintendent’s School Education
Division
office203
Counselingroom

A town hall that enables kaibutsu-seimu,

Lifelong Learning
Division

202Conferenceroom

Convention hall

201
Conference
room

the cultivation of scholarship andknowledge to serve society

Industrial Development
Division

Disaster response
headquarters
officeUsable andaccessible.

Town council zen-in kyogikai room

General Affairs Division

Finance Division
Disaster prevention
wireless system
room

DisasterPrevention and
Safety Division

Conference
room

Introducing our next-generation town hall that delivers high-quality service

Mayor’s
office3 rd

Policy andPlanning
Division

Deputymayor’s
officefloor
Reception
room

Convention hall / gallery
Office room for council chair and vice chair

to our residents with a small environmental footprint.

Reception room
After-hours reception

1 stRoom for all members conference of town council

Administration
officefloor

Nursing
Kids’ cornerroom

2 nd

Tax Division

Deputy mayor’ s officeWelfare / Long-TermCare Division

Welfare / Long-Term Care Division

School board
superintendent’ s officeTown Plaza

Reception room
General Contact Division

Environmental Water andSewer Division

General counterTax Division

Treasury OfficeCounseling room

Main entranceChild Care / Health Division

Nursing room
Treasury Office

Administration office(after-hours reception)

Policy and Planning Division
General Affairs Division

Convention hall

Finance Division

Town Plaza (waiting space)

GalleryTownLobby

Community Development Division

101
Counselingroom

Industrial Development Division

ATM

Kids’ corner

2nd floor lobby

Conference room

School Education Division
Lifelong Learning Division

Nursing room

Town
councillibraryspace

Disaster Prevention andSafety Division

Environmental Waterand Sewer Division

Kids’ corner

Town council library space

Mayor’ s officeChild Care /Health Division

General Contact Division

Town Council Secretariat
Town Lobby

floor103
102
Counseling Counselingroomroom

Town Plaza

Reception room

Town PlazaCounseling room
Disaster prevention
wireless system room
Disaster response headquarters
office (conference room)

Disaster response headquarters office (conference room)

Reception
roomOffice room
for council Town Council
Secretariatchair andvice chair

Room for all members
conference of town council

DisasterConvenience Comfort Prevention Environment

Community Development
Division

Town Plaza

To make the town hall more usable and accessible to visitors, the first floor was built to bespacious to allow for universal design and house all resident-facing administrative work.
Residents can receive face-to-face, one-stop service at service counters, improvingconvenience and making it easier for them to communicate with town officials.
To enable a wide range of office layouts, a highly flexible open-floor plan was adopted, and thepillars were built with plenty of space between each other. A “support area” with conference
rooms, storage, library, and other facilities was built right behind the office to boost work
efficiency and facilitate communication between different departments.

The Town Plaza is a place where people can gather for new encounters and discoveries tofurther energize the community. It is a comforting and versatile space surrounded by woody
materials to convey the distinctive “rustic modern” atmosphere of Kaisei Town.
To create an air of openness, the Town Plaza on the first floor has a large opening throughwhich people outside the building can see what’ s going on inside. The plaza incorporates
universal design, with a floor plan that is easy to use and navigate for many people, andsigns that are readily visible to anyone.

The town hall building is equipped with base isolation so that it can keep operating as atown hall and function as an emergency response location in the event of a disaster. It also
houses energy-efficient equipment, normally used for everyday purposes, that canimmediately be switched to serve as business continuity equipment to allow the town hall tocontinue operations under disaster situations.
The floor plan is designed to enable easy coordination with the disaster response office
immediately after disaster occurrence, allowing the building to serve as a disaster recovery
facility equipped with functions and spaces that take security into account.

The town hall conserves energy without sacrificing comfort by adoptingenergy-efficient air conditioning such as radiant air conditioning systems thatmake use of solar power and groundwater, a perfect fit for a town rich inwater resources; and through task-ambient lighting and LED dimmer control
using motion and daylight sensors.
The new town hall employs a wide range of environmental technologies toreduce energy consumption. Such efforts have earned the town hall ZEB(net zero energy building) certification through the BELS* program, the firstgovernment building in Japan to achieve this feat.
* BELS stands for “building-housing energy-efficiency labeling system”