The four apartment blocks form fire-defensive walls in the dense earthquake-prone area of Kyojima, in preventing urban fire spread, whilist widening the street for the ease of evacuation and create routes for fire trucks and ambulances to enter. This is also a response to the government’s consistent promoting urban renovation style since the 1970s.
The building itself consists of several seismic resistant designs that are conceptualised from the features of the To-ji Pagoda, including the offsetting of structural loads and the damping of columns in combination with seismic isolators between every three levels.
Building’s fire resistant strategies are also considered to combat both the earthquake-caused urban fire spread and the combustible structural material of timber, including concrete compartment floors, protection of CLT cores with non-combustible layer, and the wire mesh facade facing dense urban areas.
