Japan’s tallest tower tops out in Tokyo

The city of Osaka can no longer claim bragging rights to having the tallest tower in Japan with the 984-foot-tall Abeno Haruka, which was inaugurated in 2014. Designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, a yet-to-be named 64-story high-rise in central Tokyo’s Toronamon-Azabudai District, is now the new tallest building in Japan. Towering above the city at 1,083-feet, it edges out Abeno Haruka, also designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, by a little less than 100 feet. (It was a good run, Osaka!)

The just-topped-out Tokyo tower, for now dubbed Project A, is the tallest of three high-rises that will together comprise a sprawling, ten-acre development project led by Mori Building currently underway near the Tokyo Tower in the Toronamon-Azabudai District.

Construction work kicked off on Project A kicked off in 2019 and is expected to fully wrap up next year.

The new skyscraper is a truly mixed-use affair and will include new space for the British School of Tokyo from its basement level up through its seventh floor alongside plenty of room for retail. A medical center for Keio University will also take up residence on the fifth and sixth floors. Above that, nearly 2.6 million square feet of office space will span from the seventh floor up through the 52nd floor. Finally, the tower’s top 11 floors will be home to luxury residential units—91 in total—developed by high-end Swiss hospitality group Aman and including a full-floor penthouse with an eye-popping price tag.

“Out of our three projects on the site, the main tower is perhaps the most visual on the skyline,” said Fred Clarke, co-founder of Pelli Clarke & Partners. “It is the first thing visitors will see upon arrival in Tokyo.”

The larger development, known as Tora Asa, is referred to by the firm as a “modern urban village” and will feature lushly landscaped “village greens” designed by Heatherwick Studio at the base of each tower. Designed with state-of-the-art earthquake-resilient technologies Tora Asa will also serve as a self-contained “city where people can flee to” in the event of a major tremor complete with temporary shelter space and an emergency supply warehouse. In addition to the superlatively lanky Project A tower and ample open green space, other elements of Tora Asa include shops and restaurants, a luxury hotel from Aman, a supermarket, and a whole lot more residential and office space.