Laguarda.Low Architects Unveils Designs for Tokyo’s Grandberry Lifestyle Centre
Laguarda.Low’s design removes an existing street to unify Grandberry Centre with nature.
New York City-based architecture and urban planning firm, Laguarda.Low Architects, recently unveiled the design for Grandberry Centre, a new 750,000-square-foot transit-oriented development in Machida, Tokyo. Set on the city’s Tokyu Denen-tonshi train line, Laguarda.Low designed Grandberry Centre to be the centre of commerce and activity for Machida – a city in the west section of the Tokyo Metropolis.
The new Grandberry Centre development replaces an existing mall and train station and creates a modern, landscaped shopping village with a direct connection to the newly-designed Tsuruma Park. The new train depot, with its undulating roof, tiered gardens, and waterfall, creates a dramatic sense of arrival. From the platform, a grand stair leads visitors to the multi-level shopping Centre experience, inclusive of a local food market, retail stores and a cinema. The retail village is organised as a simple loop, referencing a European town typology, with parking positioned in the Centre. Throughout the loop, visitors traverse a series of open and covered plazas that provide dynamic spaces for socialising, leisure and entertainment.
The buildings are composed of a mix of stone, steel, wood, glass and green walls. The form, scale, and materiality of the buildings were designed to create variation within the development and to blend with the surrounding residential neighbourhood.
The main promenade features lush cherry blossom trees, and a designed new landscape plan with designated spaces for a skate park, urban farm, a sculpture garden and more.
“Grandberry Centre provides a warm and modern ambience with sophisticated design that enlivens the surrounding neighbourhood for local residents and visitors,” said Pablo Laguarda, Principal of Laguarda.Low. “Its location as an entertainment and lifestyle destination is unique and we look forward to showcasing this development to the Machida community.”
Situated amidst Tsuruma Park, Laguarda.Low’s design removes an existing street to unify Grandberry Centre with nature. To combine the two parcels, a new park entrance transforms the natural slope in grade into a dramatic stair, with the ground rising to create a green roof for a new restaurant at the threshold of the park. The firm also designed the main promenade, which features lush Cherry Blossom trees, and a designed new landscape plan with designated spaces for a skate park, urban farm, sculpture garden, children’s playground, expansive lawn and library.
. Set on the city’s Tokyu Denen-tonshi train line, Grandberry Centre will be the centre of commerce and activity for Machida.
Construction of Grandberry Centre will begin in May 2017, with an estimated completion of September 2019. Grandberry Centre is expected to officially open in November 2019. Granberry is one of seven Laguarda.Low-designed developments in Japan. Most recently, the firm was the silver award winner of International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) New Development category for their design of AEON Mall Okinawa Rycom, the largest multi-story commercial facility in Western Japan.
