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Preparing for a century of good health
How Takenaka Corporation is meeting the challenges of an aging society
Longevity is something we all strive for. But when society as a whole ages,
the cost of medical and social services for an ever-growing number of elderly
citizens begins to cast a shadow on the future. It is to mitigate these looming
costs that increased attention is now being paid to human health and wellness.
In the construction and real estate industries, more and more companies arepursuing WELL Building Standard1 certification, which evaluates projects froma health perspective. And in Japan—a nation with one of the world’s mostaged populations—Takenaka Corporation is partnering with the Centre forPreventive Medical Sciences at Chiba University on a new initiative. CalledKenchiku 2, the initiative aims to find fresh, innovative new ways to take a“health-centric” approach to architecture and urban development. Takenaka
has long been committed to contributing to society through architecture
and urban development, so we asked Masatomo Isono, General Managerof Corporate Strategic Planning, and Atsuo Ishikawa, Senior Manager ofTechnology Planning, how this initiative fits with the company’s “peoplecentric” approach to architecture.

Atsuo Ishikawa
Senior Manager ofTechnology Planningarchitecture and health, we believe it is necessary toanalyze how people living in these spaces are affected
over the long term.
Also, because the standards are primarily based on
research done in Europe and the U.S., some of them
do not accurately reflect the public health situation inJapan. Among office workers in Japan, for example,
the biggest problem is not obesity, but mental health.
While I believe the WELL Building Standard is a useful
guide to use as a reference, I also believe we need todevelop wellness programs and evaluation standards
that are specifically adapted to the needs of Japanesepeople, society and culture.

stairs. But when we surveyed employees at our Tokyo
and Osaka offices, we found that while people tended
to use the stairs on lower floors at a relatively high rate,
the rate of stair use dropped as floor levels rose. So
we learned that no matter how easy stairs are to climb,
architectural design alone cannot always motivatepeople to use them. If you want to get people on higher
floors to use the stairs, you must create mechanismsthat motivate people to view stair-climbing as a healthyand fun activity.
To address this problem, we collaborated with theJapanese advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc. on amotivational system to promote stairway use. Thesystem uses smart sensor and projection technology

Kenchiku—a health-centric
approach to space design
A fresh new look atarchitecture and health
Isono: By one estimate, approximately half of theJapanese born in 2007 will have a lifespan in excessof 100 years. And although the average Japanese
lifespan is getting longer, the gap between the average
lifespan and a “healthy” lifespan is not narrowing. So
medical costs continue to rise.
It is said that we spend 90% of our lives indoors, soover the long term, buildings can greatly influence
our health. At Takenaka, it has always been our goal
to contribute to society through architecture, and wehave extensively studied the influence that buildings
and urban environments have on human health. It
is to share what we have learned with customers
and society that we launched the Kenchiku projectin partnership with Chiba University’s Centre forPreventive Medical Sciences.
The field of epidemiology has a concept called the“population approach.” In the case of high bloodpressure, for example, a traditional high-risk approach
focuses only on individuals with systolic pressure over140. But with the population approach, you expand
the focus to include people with a systolic bloodpressure below 140. There is also the “life course

Masatomo Isono
General Manager ofCorporate Strategic
Planningapproach,” which takes a more holistic view thatconsiders environmental and lifestyle factors from earlychildhood and throughout life that may cause diseasein old age. With the life course approach, we canwork to improve the environment that causes people
to get sick in the first place. Until now, disease wasthought of as something to be addressed only throughmedical treatment. But with a health-centric life course
approach, architecture and urban development are
being looked at in fresh new ways. We feel this sortof paradigm shift is necessary if we are to solve theseproblems. This is really the driving force behind theKenchiku project.

The WELL Building Standard
Ishikawa: The WELL Building Standard is a wellthought-out certification system, and we will continue
to work with it. But since the standard applies tobuildings at the time of their completion, we also wantto pursue our own initiatives to evaluate buildings on anongoing basis. We believe it is important to understandthe long-term effect of architecture on human health,and because the certification system doesn’t track howa building is used after it is completed, that perspectiveis lost. When considering the relationship between

Ishikawa: The Kenchiku project takes a threepronged approach to health-centric architecture. First,
it considers space design from the perspective ofhuman wellness. Second, it develops programs that
promote physical activity and stimulate the senses.
Third, it feeds back what we learn from evaluating
and analyzing the effectiveness of these programs tocontinually improve our solutions.
The Kenchiku project enables us to research threeimportant areas of space design: how to promote
human interaction, how to encourage physical activity,and how to improve emotional well-being. Through ourresearch, we are developing better ways to achievethese goals through architectural means.
For example, we know that people are more likely getalong with each other when they are in a space thatevokes a sense of warmth. We have also learned thatspaces that incorporate natural lighting, ventilation,and materials can reduce the psychological distance
between people, and enable them to have a favorable
impression of each other even when meeting for thefirst time. So we are applying these insights to ourdesign and evaluation processes.
In offices, employees need to be able to concentrateon their work without being distracted by things intheir line of sight, or conversations happening aroundtheir desk. On the other hand, it is also desirable tocreate an environment that encourages work-related
conversations. This makes it necessary to think about
trade-offs in office design that can address the needs
that arise from this contradiction. So we are researching
the influence that the physical environment has on thehuman psyche and physiology, and leveraging what welearn in our ongoing design initiatives.
The Shinkashiwa Clinic dialysis center is a real-life
example of how natural building materials can promotea sense of emotional well-being. Constructed in 2016,
the clinic building makes abundant use of wood—evenin structural members—and pre-and post-surveys haverevealed that patients find their dialysis treatment muchless stressful.

A stairway to better health
Ishikawa: Takenaka’s main office in Tokyo has an
atrium stairwell in the center of the building that wasdesigned to make people feel good about using theQ's Mall in Morinomiya, Osaka, is a prime example of Takenaka's
commitment to create shared spaces that encourage physical activity
and promote healthier lifestyles.

to make climbing the stairs more fun. Sensors
embedded in the stairs recognize individuals byelectronic tags on their employee cards, and based onlogged data of previous climbing pace and behavior,
the projection system displays images and messages
that motivate the individual to utilize the stairs on adaily basis. In tandem with the architectural design ofthe stairwell, such systems can promote increased
stairway use at any floor level.
We are also developing a Sense-Response Wellness
System. Aimed at care facilities for the elderly, it isan interactive projection system that captures thesilhouette of a person in front of the screen, andcombines it with scenes of nature. By making it appear
as though the person is interacting with flowers,
butterflies, and other elements on-screen, the system

Atsuo Ishikawa
Senior Manager ofTechnology Planningarchitecture and health, we believe it is necessary toanalyze how people living in these spaces are affected
over the long term.
Also, because the standards are primarily based onresearch done in Europe and the U.S., some of them
do not accurately reflect the public health situation inJapan. Among office workers in Japan, for example,
the biggest problem is not obesity, but mental health.
While I believe the WELL Building Standard is a useful
guide to use as a reference, I also believe we need todevelop wellness programs and evaluation standards
that are specifically adapted to the needs of Japanesepeople, society and culture.

stairs. But when we surveyed employees at our Tokyoand Osaka offices, we found that while people tendedto use the stairs on lower floors at a relatively high rate,
the rate of stair use dropped as floor levels rose. So
we learned that no matter how easy stairs are to climb,
architectural design alone cannot always motivate
people to use them. If you want to get people on higher
floors to use the stairs, you must create mechanismsthat motivate people to view stair-climbing as a healthy
and fun activity.
To address this problem, we collaborated with theJapanese advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc. on amotivational system to promote stairway use. Thesystem uses smart sensor and projection technology

Kenchiku—a health-centric
approach to space design
A fresh new look atarchitecture and health
Isono: By one estimate, approximately half of theJapanese born in 2007 will have a lifespan in excessof 100 years. And although the average Japanese
lifespan is getting longer, the gap between the average
lifespan and a “healthy” lifespan is not narrowing. So
medical costs continue to rise.
It is said that we spend 90% of our lives indoors, soover the long term, buildings can greatly influence
our health. At Takenaka, it has always been our goal
to contribute to society through architecture, and wehave extensively studied the influence that buildings
and urban environments have on human health. It
is to share what we have learned with customers
and society that we launched the Kenchiku projectin partnership with Chiba University’s Centre forPreventive Medical Sciences.
The field of epidemiology has a concept called the“population approach.” In the case of high bloodpressure, for example, a traditional high-risk approach
focuses only on individuals with systolic pressure over140. But with the population approach, you expand
the focus to include people with a systolic bloodpressure below 140. There is also the “life course

Masatomo Isono
General Manager ofCorporate Strategic
Planningapproach,” which takes a more holistic view thatconsiders environmental and lifestyle factors from earlychildhood and throughout life that may cause diseasein old age. With the life course approach, we canwork to improve the environment that causes people
to get sick in the first place. Until now, disease wasthought of as something to be addressed only throughmedical treatment. But with a health-centric life course
approach, architecture and urban development are
being looked at in fresh new ways. We feel this sortof paradigm shift is necessary if we are to solve these
problems. This is really the driving force behind theKenchiku project.

The WELL Building Standard
Ishikawa: The WELL Building Standard is a wellthought-out certification system, and we will continue
to work with it. But since the standard applies tobuildings at the time of their completion, we also wantto pursue our own initiatives to evaluate buildings on anongoing basis. We believe it is important to understandthe long-term effect of architecture on human health,and because the certification system doesn’t track how
a building is used after it is completed, that perspective
is lost. When considering the relationship between

Ishikawa: The Kenchiku project takes a threepronged approach to health-centric architecture. First,
it considers space design from the perspective ofhuman wellness. Second, it develops programs that
promote physical activity and stimulate the senses.
Third, it feeds back what we learn from evaluatingand analyzing the effectiveness of these programs tocontinually improve our solutions.
The Kenchiku project enables us to research threeimportant areas of space design: how to promote
human interaction, how to encourage physical activity,and how to improve emotional well-being. Through ourresearch, we are developing better ways to achievethese goals through architectural means.
For example, we know that people are more likely getalong with each other when they are in a space thatevokes a sense of warmth. We have also learned thatspaces that incorporate natural lighting, ventilation,and materials can reduce the psychological distance
between people, and enable them to have a favorable
impression of each other even when meeting for thefirst time. So we are applying these insights to ourdesign and evaluation processes.
In offices, employees need to be able to concentrateon their work without being distracted by things intheir line of sight, or conversations happening aroundtheir desk. On the other hand, it is also desirable tocreate an environment that encourages work-relatedconversations. This makes it necessary to think about
trade-offs in office design that can address the needs
that arise from this contradiction. So we are researching
the influence that the physical environment has on thehuman psyche and physiology, and leveraging what welearn in our ongoing design initiatives.
The Shinkashiwa Clinic dialysis center is a real-life
example of how natural building materials can promotea sense of emotional well-being. Constructed in 2016,
the clinic building makes abundant use of wood—evenin structural members—and pre-and post-surveys haverevealed that patients find their dialysis treatment muchless stressful.

A stairway to better health
Ishikawa: Takenaka’s main office in Tokyo has anatrium stairwell in the center of the building that wasdesigned to make people feel good about using theQ's Mall in Morinomiya, Osaka, is a prime example of Takenaka's
commitment to create shared spaces that encourage physical activity
and promote healthier lifestyles.

to make climbing the stairs more fun. Sensors
embedded in the stairs recognize individuals byelectronic tags on their employee cards, and based onlogged data of previous climbing pace and behavior,
the projection system displays images and messages
that motivate the individual to utilize the stairs on adaily basis. In tandem with the architectural design ofthe stairwell, such systems can promote increased
stairway use at any floor level.
We are also developing a Sense-Response Wellness
System. Aimed at care facilities for the elderly, it isan interactive projection system that captures thesilhouette of a person in front of the screen, andcombines it with scenes of nature. By making it appear
as though the person is interacting with flowers,
butterflies, and other elements on-screen, the system

Attractive,
well-designed
stairways
with built-in
motivational
programs
provide office
workers with aconvenient andenjoyable way
to exercise.

encourages physical movement and motivates people
to be more active.

Meeting the challenges of the future
Isono: In an office, if you set up desks and computers,
people can work. In a city, if you provide basic lifeline
services and infrastructure, people can live. But when
the health and wellness of employees and residents
is your focus, then buildings and cities must meet ahigher standard. Factors that seem to be only distantly
related to actual productivity—the ability to takebreaks, feel refreshed, exercise, and enjoy humaninteraction—take on much greater importance. As weapproach a time when lifespans can reach 100 years,
we may need to reconsider how we work in the future.
It may also give us an opportunity to reexamine theroles of education, employment, retirement and oldage, and rethink the way we live our lives.
In discussing the challenges we face in space design
and urban development with developers, building
occupants, and urban residents, it is clear that humanhealth and wellness are a vital part of the equation. Ifwe can meet these challenges head-on, and continue
to gather evidence about the role architecture plays
in human health, it is my hope that we can make asignificant contribution to society as a whole.
1
International WELL Building Institute certification standards define
105 performance benchmarks in seven areas considered importantto occupant health: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort,and mind.
2Kenchiku, written with the characters 建築, is the Japanese word
for architecture. But when it is written with the visually very similar
characters 健築, the nuance becomes “architecting human health”—
making it a name that perfectly reflects the initiative’s lofty goals.

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