Sky is the limit for Nikken Sekkei

Some 115 years ago, a company established in Japan was destined to become one of the world's leading architectural consulting firm today. Nikken Sekkei is the name behind some of the vibrant and ultramodern capital city's most well-known landmarks. A large number of Japan's most prominent and world-recognized built designs can be found in its portfolio.

Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest free-standing broadcasting tower, was designed by Nikken Sekkei, as was the Tokyo Station Yaesu Development. The firm is also responsible for developments around Shibuya Station, currently under way.

"We are by far number one in Japan - employing more than 1,000 highly-qualified architects," said Tadao Kamei, president and CEO of Nikken Sekkei. "Our portfolio contains more than 20,000 projects, domestically and internationally."

Nikken Sekkei's most important market after Japan is China. Currently, it has more than 50 projects under development in the neighboring country. Among those which have already contributed to enriching Chinese city skylines are such prominent buildings as the Bank of China Tower and Citigroup Tower in Shanghai, as well as the futuristic Bank of Chengdu headquarters in Chengdu and Guangzhou's public library.

The company's greatest new challenge will be the development of Tokyo's Main Stadium. It will host the most important and globally prominent events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In the meantime, it has recently finished Narita International Airport's new Terminal 3, which is already operational.

"Japan is reviving, and we will be here to support this development with our expertise and advanced technical capability," said Kamei.

Nikken Sekkei has been engaged in sustainable eco-friendly designs since 1966, before even the term became fashionable around the world. As Kamei explained: "Traditional Japanese architecture is based on eco-friendly designs, and we succeeded in following and applying our tradition to our modern designs."

For example, Nikken Sekkei designed and built the Pola Museum of Art, located in Hakone within a national park. Much of it is built underground and nowhere is it more than 8 meters tall, maintaining a beautiful design with minimum impact on its magnificent surroundings.

In the same vein, and following two years of negotiations with the local government in Matizhai in China followed by three years of designing, consulting and supervision, Nikken Sekkei designed and built the Matizhai Hope Primary School, which is fully integrated with the village and its environment.

"Since completion in 2013, we have remained active in the school by providing training to the kids and teaching them about the environment, cleanliness and art," Kamei said.

Within the company itself Nikken Sekkei's employee stock ownership program "is able to maintain complete independence, and gives us the advantage of acting as we collectively decide", he said. In particular, Kamei pointed out that the company refrained from laying off employees during the worst years of the global financial crisis that started in 2008 with the "Lehman Shock".

Today, Kamei and his team are looking globally, and eager to develop Nikken Sekkei as a world leader in its sector. "Our target is to be a global firm, though always following the principles that founded this company: to adapt to the changes of society and be ready for the volatile future."

"This has been the key reason for our survival, growth and continued success," Kamei said.

www.nikken.jp/en

World Eye Reports provided the story.

(China Daily 06/18/2015 page22)