The Tokyo American Club is home to a private social and business-networking club founded in 1928 and is the only Western club in Tokyo. Aspiring to create the premier club in Asia, facility officials envisioned a home away from home where families could spend the entire day.
The building is sited on the crest of a hilltop in the Azabudai neighborhood, an oasis in one of the busiest sections of Tokyo. A linear arrival garden connects the eight-story clubhouse and the adjacent 12-story condominium tower, designed as part of the project. Each building has a stepped form that creates a series of garden terraces, and between the two structures, a reflecting pool skylight marks the club’s entrance.
Based on a cubic grid of structural concrete with vertical panels of glass and golden Chinese granite, the club is composed of two wings flanking a series of transparent common rooms. The building houses family/recreational and formal/business functions in separate wings. Recreational spaces include a bowling alley, a childcare facility, a gymnasium, squash courts, an indoor golf range and a spa. Acoustic engineering made it possible to locate seemingly incompatible activities next to each other. For example, the bowling alley is adjacent to the childcare center, where children sometimes sleep.
The club is built to the standards of Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency, the sustainable design rating system of Japan.
Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre
