Collaborating with 16 creators invited from around the world Sixteen creators invited from around the world will redesign public toilets in Shibuya.
Our young employees in their 20s and 30s jump into the project that echoes the spirit of the company’s founder.

As the sun has gone down, night has spread across the Shibuya sky, and a dim light is falling on parks and streets, there is this place that remains busy with people going in and out. The place they are heading to is a “public toilet like you’ve never seen.”

Named THE TOKYO TOILET, the project was undertaken by THE NIPPON FOUNDATION with the goal of redesigning 17 public toilets in Shibuya by 16 world-famous creators. Invited to the project were all topnotch creators, including winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture, and leading creative directors in Japan. Daiwa House Industry assumed a role of translating the creators’ design plans into basic design and execution drawings, as well as of construction.

Appointed to the project leader was Ms. Taira from sales section. “I thought the task would be beyond my ability,” Ms. Taira says with a smile, looking back on when she received the assignment. Not just because there was no telling what sort of unique plans the creators would come up with, there were also concerns over the schedule and budget. But “When I take a look at the list of creators,” she recalls her excitement, “I was so thrilled to be involved in such a big project.”

The in-house project team was made up of young employees in their 20s and 30s, so that they could gain invaluable experience through the collaboration with top creators. Eligible divisions internally recruited project members, and those with a strong motivation to join were selected. Over half of the members were women, with many female site supervisors, coming from three different divisions: General Construction Division mainly engaged in business facilities, Commercial Construction Division specializing in commercial facilities, and Apartment Division dedicated for rental housing. With the participation of young, promising employees, the project was also expected to serve as a driver for the company’s overall capability.

The project team members visited the respective creators they were to work with, and were all shocked from the very first day. For example, what they saw at Mr. Shigeru Ban’s office was a transparent, colorful toilet model. The exterior glass walls of the toilet turned opaque when the light was turned on and off. The design going beyond their imagination kept them excited all along their way home. At Mr. Fumihiko Maki’s office, they were astonished at the great accuracy of the conceptual design, despite an order with a very short lead time. For the park known as Octopus Park, Mr. Maki designed a Squid Toilet with a user-friendly design. What especially struck the members was the architect’s meticulous calculation behind that playful design.

After entering the phase of execution drawings and construction, the members came to learn the creators’ professional attitude to their works, that is, paying attention to the last detail. “Why don’t we make the iron plate of the roof 1 cm thinner?” “The position of the components are misaligned. Let’s make them again from scratch.” “Maybe we should change the locations of vending machines and security cameras as they don’t fit the landscape.” They kept offering suggestions throughout the project and, to ensure that everyone can use the facilities comfortably and safely, speculated about the detailed design of Braille tactile maps and other parts as well. In each and every creator’s office, the team members witnessed the uncompromising creativity they demonstrated, which made them learn how they should function as designers down the road.

The project involves numerous parties, including THE NIPPON FOUNDATION, Shibuya City and the creators, as well as landowners in some locations of the toilets. In summarizing various opinions of the different parties, the members utilized the company’s experience of having handled many projects with complex schemes on a daily basis.

The track record of construction works in small sites also served the project in good stead. “The sites for toilets and surrounding roads were all narrow, so more prior consultations and applications were required than usual,” says Mr. Tajima, who took charge of construction. “Taking full advantage of our experience, we were able to start construction smoothly.” It was the first time for him to get involved in a project from the basic design phase as a member from the construction division. His early participation naturally led to the drawings with much consideration for the actual construction work. Given the level of quality required in construction, he carefully selected partner companies with outstanding expertise. For the EBISU PARK TOILET, where he worked as the site manager, the key element of the design was a fair-faced concrete walls with woody texture. When removing the formwork gingerly, they saw beautiful wood-graining appearing there. The quality texture also pleased the creator of the toilet, which was the fruit of our long-standing relationships with excellent construction subcontractors.

Upon completion of each toilet, Ms. Taira, the leader, interviewed each creator to figure out the Daiwa House’s strengths and weakness they found through the design and construction works. The collaboration with 16 creators’ offices has given all of us an opportunity to compare our company with industry peers and learn to be better. Working in cross-organizational teams brought a myriad of discoveries to the members, too. “It was interesting to know how different divisions adopted different approaches in working, though we belong to the same company,” Ms. Taira says. “So I brought back to my division what I wanted to apply there, such as segregation of duties and operating procedures practiced by other divisions.”