这座建筑于1964年，即东京奥运会的那一年竣工，是作为前桥新金银行的总部而建造的，该银行是现在的信浓新金银行合并后的前身。该公司当时为建造最先进的钢筋混凝土结构付出了很多努力。然而，在2015年进行的抗震评估显示，该结构存在一些问题。当我们加入这个项目时，政策是要重建该建筑。然而，结构工程师的检查显示，现有的结构没有致命的缺陷，而且建筑可以通过恢复平衡来达到抗震标准，这使得翻新成为项目的可行方案。此外，该项目从一开始就涉及到将附近的FM群马大楼迁至该地的计划。地区媒体和地区金融机构史无前例的合署办公，将有望在共享同一区域的两家公司之间创造更大的协同效应。

Completed in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympics, this building was built as the headquarters of the Maebashi Shinkin Bank, which was the predecessor of the present Shinonome Shinkin Bank after its merger. The company put much effort into building the state-of-the-art steel-reinforced concrete structure at the time. However, an earthquake resistance assessment conducted in 2015 revealed some problems with the structure. When we joined the project, the policy was to rebuild the building. However, the structural engineer’s inspection revealed that there were no fatal defects in the existing structure and that the building could meet the earthquake resistance standards by restoring the balance, making renovation a feasible option for the project. In addition, the project involved a plan to relocate the nearby FM Gunma building to the site from the beginning. The unprecedented co-location of the regional media and the regional financial institution would hopefully create greater synergy between the two companies sharing the same area.

该大楼位于前桥市的市中心。这个地区位于其他可命名的地区之间，缺乏明显的特征。然而，从不同的角度来看，我们发现该地区可以被描述为连接这些地区的中继点。虽然这个城市街区和场地有这样的潜力，但现有建筑的正面是沿着17号公路的东侧，而南面的纵向只作为一个停车场。我们的想法是通过颠倒内部和外部，在城市街区内创造一个 “正面”。为此，我们在城市街区的中心创造了一个广场，并将其与环绕它的人行道空间连接起来，使行人可以舒适地走动。结果是，建筑的南面和西面，过去是背面，变成了新的外墙，沿着人行道空间的建筑表面面积大大增加。通过将FM群马大楼放在广场对面的Shinonome Shinkin银行大楼对面，两座大楼现在都享受到了迷人的开放广场的好处。

The building is located in the city center of Maebashi. This area, situated between other nameable areas, lacks distinct characteristics. Looking at it from a different perspective, however, we find that the area can be characterized as a relay point connecting those areas. While the city block and the site had such potential, the front of the existing building was on the east side along Route 17, and the longitudinal side to the south served only as a parking lot. The idea was to create a “front” within the city block by inverting the inside and outside. To this end, we created a plaza in the center of the city block and connected it to the sidewalk space encircling it, allowing pedestrians to walk around comfortably. As a result, the south and west sides of the building, which used to be the back side, became new facades, and the surface area of the building along the sidewalk space increased dramatically. By placing the FM Gunma building opposite the Shinonome Shinkin Bank building across the plaza, both buildings now enjoy the benefits of the attractive open plaza.

我们将该广场设想为一个 “中继点 “和 “城市中的休息场所”。我们的设计通过在整个广场上散布高大的树木，为前桥这个夏季炎热的城市提供了阴凉和凉爽，并利用高低落差适中的木制平台提供了各种场所。面向广场的两座公司大楼的外墙覆盖着屋檐，使人们可以不断地从城市街区外的屋顶区域漫步到广场上。广场完全由砖瓦铺设，这是前桥常见的建筑语言，创造了一种与城市中其他地点的连续性感觉。不规则形状和凸起的种植带，种植了高大的树木、灌木和地被植物，穿透了砖瓦铺面。
We envisioned the plaza as a “relay point” and a “resting place in the city.” Our design offers shade and coolness in Maebashi, a city with intense summer heat, by scattering tall trees throughout the plaza and provides a variety of places using wood decks with moderate differences in elevation. The exterior walls of the two company buildings facing the plaza are covered with eaves, allowing people to continuously stroll through the roofed area from outside the city block to the plaza. The plaza is entirely paved with brick tiles, a common architectural language in Maebashi, creating a sense of continuity with other locations in the city. Irregularly shaped and raised planting strips, planted with tall trees, shrubs, and groundcovers, penetrate the brick tile pavement.

在建筑内部，整体连接的一楼和二楼是这个建筑的最重要的空间特征。银行的销售部门功能被缩小，并作为一个嵌套的建筑，从南面的外墙线退后一步。大厅虽然在建筑上是 “内部”，但从存在的角度来看，它是银行的 “外部”。我们用与广场相同的砖块完成了地板，在大厅里放置了种植带和路灯，并增加了一个连接内部和外部的咖啡摊位。增加的二楼作为图书馆向公众开放，人们可以在银行的营业时间之外使用。虽然最初隐藏在天花板后面的结构被粗暴地暴露出来，但现在外墙结构被绝缘材料和新的饰面覆盖，以确保舒适和清洁。在柱子和梁的接缝处调换饰面，使结构的迷人品质得以展现。

Inside the building, the integrally connected first and second floors are the most important spaces that characterize this architecture. The bank’s sales department functions are reduced in size and built as a nested building, one step back from the south exterior wall line. The lobby, while architecturally “inside,” is the “outside” of the bank from an existential point of view. We finished the floor with the same bricks as the plaza, placed planting strips and street lights in the lobby, and added a coffee stall connecting the inside and outside. The added second floor is open to the public as a library that people can use outside the bank’s business hours. While the structure, initially hidden behind the ceiling, is brutally exposed, the exterior wall structure is now covered with insulation and new finishes to ensure comfort and cleanliness. Switching the finishes at the column-and-beam joints brings out attractive qualities of the structure.

三楼由一个大会议室、一个员工食堂和其他会议室组成。大会议室是作为原建筑的一部分建造的，曾被改造过几次，最近被用作行政办公室，天花板很低。在这次改造中，双高的中庭被恢复到原来的形式，使人们可以将大会议室用于各种用途。考虑到该空间与周围树木的树枝处于同一水平面，我们设计了开口，以纳入视野。

The third floor consists of a large conference room, a cafeteria for staff, and other conference rooms. The large conference room, built as a part of the original building, had been remodeled several times and was recently used as an administrative office with a low ceiling. In this renovation, the double-height atrium was restored to its original form, allowing people to use the large conference room for various purposes. Given that the space is on the same level as the branches of the surrounding trees, we designed the openings to incorporate the view.

Architects: HAGISO, twism design studio
Area : 2473 m²
Year : 2022
Photographs :Masato Chiba
Manufacturers : AICA CINERGY, ECOROCA, Itoki, Karimoku New Standard, Maruni, NEW LIGHT POTTERY, PARAMOUNT GLASS MFG, Toli, Yonezawa Brick
Structural Design : Kanebako Structural Engineers
Mechanical Design : Tetens Engineering
Electrical Design : Luna Design Lab
Landscape Design : SfG landscape architects
Principal Architect : Mitsuyoshi Miyazaki
Manager : Soichi Tasaka
Architects : Taiga Koizumi, Yuto Murakoshi
Project Design : Tone and Matter
Graphic Design : Maniackers Design
City : Maebashi
Country : Japan