Daiwa House Group's Developing new communities

Japan’s cutting-edge biomedical town
King Skyfront District A (under development)

: Comfort, Communication, Environmental, Identity

Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture

King Skyfront is an international strategic center in Tono-machi that aims to create new industries based on the highest standard of research and development. Daiwa House is working to develop communities that revitalize prosperity and interactions in King Skyfront District A.

Site area: 46,172.96m²
Facilities: A hotel building, 2 research buildings (primary development), 3 research buildings (secondary development, planned)

King Skyfront, an international strategic center in Tono-machi, is a center for open innovation to be maintained as an area that integrates companies and research institutions in cutting-edge life science and environmental fields. It was decided that 69 institutions (as of April 1, 2020) will move into King Skyfront and create new innovations in cooperation with research institutions. The Haneda Access Road that will link King Skyfront and the Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) is scheduled to be completed in FY2021. With the synergistic effects of the development in Haneda Zones 1 and 2, people, things, and cutting-edge technology are expected to become even more integrated in the future.

At one time, the King Skyfront site had been an Isuzu Motors plant in Kawasaki. An urban revitalization organization acquired the site and sold it in lots in order to readjust the lots. Daiwa House Industry acquired 4.6 hectares of land (approximately the size of the Tokyo Dome) in June 2014 for King Skyfront District A.

In the same month, Daiwa House and Kawasaki City concluded a Memorandum Between Kawasaki City and Daiwa House Industry Regarding King Skyfront Community Development. Daiwa House made use of the site’s location near Haneda Airport and started to develop a community based on the King Skyfront concept of being an international strategic center that integrates the cutting-edge life science industry and research institutions, and started development to create prosperity and interaction functions in District A.

Kawasaki City and regional residents were apprehensive about the development, saying “The sites of the companies that moved in are separated by fences like an industrial park; I don’t know what kind of business these companies are doing,” and “There might be inhuman development going on without any rules.” In order to create a prosperous community look that would attract people, Daiwa House planned an open district without fences where anyone could enter the site and it would be easy to interact with other companies. The company provided various places where people could interact and worked to integrate cutting-edge companies and institutions while dispelling the concerns that Kawasaki City and regional residents had.

Through the construction, as the community development company, Daiwa House also started a project that ventured into creating structures (building business ecosystems) for developing start-ups, etc. in cooperation with companies.

Creating and maintaining comfortable spaces

Designing open interactive spaces in a community integrated with parks

The company is working in close cooperation with Kawasaki City to create spaces that are integrated with parks. Specifically, a promenade that links District A with 2 existing parks adjacent to District A to the north and south with a green area is being developed, and community spaces and showrooms that face the promenade are being established on the first floor of the research buildings. The company is developing a community where researchers, students, and regional residents can easily gather and interact.

Also, as spaces where people can gather that will create prosperity, an entrance park and community park (spaces where no buildings will be built) are being established on the promenade. These are positioned as spaces for events that will create prosperity in the future.

In addition, setbacks have been provided in a diagonal formation on the upper-level floors of the buildings that face the promenade in order to create a comfortable feeling. District A will be an open district without fences where people from companies in different buildings can easily interact.

Communication between people

Promoting interactions at parks, cafés, and events

Daiwa House is designing spaces like the promenade and parks in order to generate communication between people and people. The company is creating structures where researchers can interact with each other through music events and pitch events, etc.

iRIKAWA Style and Holdings Co., Ltd. is working to plan and build the hotel. iRIKAWA Style quickly agreed with the basic concept of District A. We are developing this project, considering that it is also important to capture inbound demand to create bustling activities and to manage the area by linking the operating companies with the local community.

Daiwa House also struggled to find a hotel operator that could sympathize with the hotel concept that had been set. But Tokyu Hotels Co. Ltd. and W’s Company Co., Ltd. Agreed to participate and work with Daiwa House to develop a prosperous community. The Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel, which is managed by Tokyu Hotels, is in charge of the important task of creating prosperity in District A. W’s Company manages the café on the first floor of the hotel. Riverside activities and music events, etc. are being held in cooperation with Tokyu Hotels.

Hotel restaurant where visitors can enjoy views of the Tama River and Haneda Airport Hotel restaurant where visitors can enjoy views of the Tama River and Haneda Airport

Efficient use of resources

First in the world *1 to utilize low-carbon hydrogen derived from used plastic

Showa Denko KK’s Kawasaki facility uses plastic that was recovered around Kawasaki City as a raw material to generate hydrogen and supplies it through a pipeline to the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel. A pure hydrogen fuel cell is used to convert that hydrogen into electricity (and heat), which makes up approximately 30% of the total energy that the hotel uses. The hotel is cooperating with the Ministry of the Environment’s work to verify low-carbon hydrogen technology with regional areas.

*1: Research by Daiwa House

Pure hydrogen fuel cell that produces electricity and heat Pure hydrogen fuel cell that produces electricity and heat

The hotel uses energy that was generated by hydrogen derived from used plastic

Harmony with the natural environment

Enjoying riverside activities and the nature on the Tama River

A park (Tono-machi Park 2) that Kawasaki City manages is adjacent to District A. At first, there was a fence about 2 meters high on the boundary line between the park and District A, but it was removed based on government consultation, and the area is currently being maintained as an integrated space.

The Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel was reborn in the concept of “The Warehouse.” A warehouse that had been in the Keihin industrial region for a long time was newly built designed in the style of a renovated property. The interior space has a feeling of the previous are, and the fresh, tasteful design gives visiting customers a deep impression of the location’s identity.

Hotel front lobby symbolizing “The WAREHOUSE” Hotel front lobby symbolizing “The WAREHOUSE”

People can do more than just stay at the hotels--they can engage in riverside activities along the banks of the Tama River, such as cycling and running. People can also exercise for a change of pace, refresh themselves in a large public bath that looks over the Tama River, and drink original craft beers on restaurant terraces where they can see the entire view of Haneda Airport at night. The hotel has the function of being a space where people can enjoy their stay combined with a lifestyle that incorporates the natural environment.s

Daiwa House Property Management Co., Ltd. is managing the spaces in the facilities and sites, etc. in District A.

Solving regional issues (in cooperation with the region and government)

Dispelling the concerns of the regional residents and planning an open district

Before the plan was made, Daiwa House concluded a memorandum with Kawasaki City to resolve the concerns of the locals who were apprehensive about inhuman development without any rules, and began the project in cooperation with the government and the private sector. Kawasaki City provided capital for harmonizing with the natural environment, which had been a concern, and is maintaining the exterior level of District A and the park level.

Daiwa House Parking Co., Ltd. is managing and operating a parking area in District A that has parking spaces for approximately 100 cars. The company manages parking, entering, and exiting, and is also in charge of activities to create prosperity, such as having cycling events or promotional exhibits of new cars in the parking area.

Daiwa House’s voice

In order to attract business hotels, attract research institutions that require biosafety levels to be set in order to operate, and attract appropriate institutions and companies to a location that is about a 15-minute walk from the nearest train station, Daiwa House needed to build and design a wet lab to be leased. Sometimes these activities were in fields in which the company had no reference examples or actual history of involvement, and every day was a continuous trial and error process.

For that reason, Daiwa House is cooperating with various departments on this project, including Sales, Design, Equipment, and Construction, in order to maximize the resources that can be used while also using outside knowledge and capabilities.

At the start of this project, communication with Kawasaki City and residents in the region deepened, and the residents in the region had more discussions about using the land. Daiwa House bid on the maintenance business for Kawasaki City’s Shin-Kawasaki Sozo no Mori facility (for research and development and interactions between university and industry), received the order, and started the related work. Daiwa House also received inquiries from Kawasaki City and other local governments asking for similar development, and this has led to business opportunities.

King Skyfront District A is still being developed. However, in the future, as the community development company, the company will pursue building business ecosystems, including creating structures for developing start-ups in the future. As part of the flow for developing a community full of possibilities, Daiwa House would like to serve the construction needs of the companies that move into the area and connect this to the next business opportunity.

Tokyo Branch General Construction Division
4th sales department Sales Division 2
Masafumi Takeda

Tokyo Branch General Construction Division
1st design department Division 1
Takao Ajiro

Developing new communities