Park Hyatt Tokyo occupies the top fourteen floors of the 52-story Shinjuku Park Tower, an innovative, environmentally responsible building owned and developed by Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. and designed by renowned architect Kenzo Tange.
Built on the former site of Tokyo's municipal gas tanks, the high-tech, mixed-use complex is a model for thoughtful urban planning and development. In addition to a luxury hotel perched on the topmost floors, the design vision called for a multi-purpose hall, restaurants, upscale shops, and exhibition and office space. Completed in April 1994, the building's 52 above- ground floors and 5 basement stories are a vast public resource, offering a full range of information and services related to business, culture, and living design.
At 235 meters, Shinjuku Park Tower is Tokyo's second tallest building, following the nearby Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, also of Tange's design. Strong forms at the tops of its three towers attract attention and create curiosity. Inside, these pyramidal atriums are perhaps the most dramatic of Park Hyatt Tokyo's spaces.
Tange's three-tower, stepped-back design is more than distinctive: it minimizes the unwelcome effects of skyscraper construction on sunshine and wind flow. The offset configuration of the three towers gives an impression of slenderness yet also reduces the noon shadow cast onto the nearby park. Regular variations in the angles of the building's exterior surfaces check the acceleration of wind speed, thereby keeping artificial wind gusts in the vicinity to a minimum.
Oriented for continuity with the surrounding business district, large city park, and future cultural district planned around the New National Theater, Shinjuku Park Tower is both an integrating element and a striking symbol of Shinjuku's vital role as an administrative, commercial, and entertainment center.
Tange was awarded The Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1987.
