NICHIA YOKOHAMA LAB

The famous architectural firm SANAA was approached by Nichia, one of the leading LED manufacturers, for the design of its new laboratory in Yokohama, adjacent to their existing buildings, which was revamped at the same time. The uniformalization of the facades in a sharp and fine design was one of the major challenges of the project, in addition to the lobby, conference rooms etc. Lighting design done by I.C.O.N. was therefore proceeded hand in hand with the architect and required a lot of details and tests, face to many constraints.

For the facades, a “skin” of glass slabs was added. Slightly inclined and twisted, they have been subtly designed to reflect the sky (rather than the buildings opposite) and thus blend the buildings into their environment. With such a project, the lighting enhancement necessarily required meticulousness and skill. The facade skin is lit in white light revealing the delicate serigraphy on each panel. The perfect integration of lighting fixture into the architecture was essential.

Between the two buildings, a section under a canopy was created, playing on the transparency and finesse of the structures. The lighting follows this idea and was also highlights on the landscape part.

Inside, the canopy extends into the large buildings, creating spaces with high ceilings and others with low ceilings. Some of them are smooth so trimless downlights were applied to archive seamless appearance on the ceiling and efficient lighting effect. Result, “disappear”. The other fixture are  integrated behind metal mesh ceiling, sometimes visible, sometimes creates interresting effect through curtains... A new product was developped for this project so that the materials are even more discreet. Warm in tone, they contrast with the freshness of the façade.