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Culture Hall“KANON”,
Higashikagura Complex“HANANOWA”

Feb. 10,2025
Multipurpose Hall

Project Description

A new symbol of the "City of Flowers" that creates "wa", a place where people naturally interact

The Higashikagura Complex "HANANOWA" was built in the hope that it would become a "wa", a place where the residents of the town could naturally gather and connect with one another. In addition to the functions of the government office, it also houses a library, a clinic, a kitchen studio, a bus waiting area, and a cultural hall "KANON" that can accommodate about 450 people, with all room connected by a circular corridor.
The entire building is surrounded by Sakhalin spruce, and the beautiful plantings in the garden were designed by Sayuki Ueno, a gardener from Asahikawa City. It is a place of recreation and relaxation, where residents visiting the town office and library, patients visiting the clinic, and neighborhood preschool children gather to view the flowers.
The nicknames for the facility and the cultural hall were each chosen through public solicitation from the residents. "HANANOWA" was named after the wish that this facility born in the "City of Flowers" would be a place where people can meet and feel the warmth of the circle of people, and "KANON", named after the musical term "canon".
The hall is a flexible space that can accommodate a wide range of events, from those requiring a stage and seating, such as music, plays, and lectures, to those requiring a large flat space, such as parties and exhibitions.

Movable seating to facilitate multipurpose use of the hall

The bright Bengala-colored interior of the hall features 280 seats of chic black Retractable Seating System and 160 stacking chairs. All chairs are movable, so you can choose to have seating or not, only use the Retractable Seating System or arrange as many stacking chairs as you need, and adjust the number of seats and layout to suit your event.
The Retractable Seating System is a semi-automatic type with manual operation for seat erection and tipping, and electric operation for deployment and retraction of the main unit.
After the seat is folded down with the dedicated handle, pressing the remote button retracts the Retractable Seating System, consisting of 10 tiers, into a dedicated storage compartment in the wall at the rear of the hall. To set up the seating again, press the button to unroll the 10-tier Retractable Seating System from the storage compartment, and then manually raise the folded seats. There is also a special cart that can compactly store stacking chairs to save space, allowing seating to be set up and taken down in a short amount of time and with a minimum of manpower.

Selecting seats that are both comfortable to sit on and smart in terms of passage and setup

The CS-01 chair used with Retractable Seating System was selected for its comfort, and despite its slim profile, it has a well-cushioned seat with a backrest and seat filled with polyurethane. The seat is upholstered in a highly breathable and durable 3D mesh, which is comfortable and does not get stuffy during long performances.
When the seat is left, the backrest and seat are snuggled together and stand vertically so that the space in front of the seat is not narrowed and passage is smooth. The fact that the last row of the Retractable Seating System provides access to the second-floor foyer also contributes to a comfortable passage.
The FC-310 stacking chair contributes to efficient setup of various layouts with its ganging mechanism at the end of the leg. The two-layered cushioning of the seat creates seating comfort with moderate resilience, and the gently curved backrest supports the body as if it were enveloping the seated person.

Facility Overview

Higashikagura Town in Hokkaido, which has Asahikawa Airport within its town limits, is known as the "City of Flowers. What started in 2017 is a compact town development project that consolidates scattered public facilities with high utilization to get prepared for society with a declining population in the future. One of these is the opening of the Higashikagura Town Complex "HANANOWA" in August 2024. Designed by Sousuke Fujimoto, an architect from the town, the impressive architecture is based on the concept of "a landscape that will remain in your memory," with all room connected by a circular corridor.
 

Project Summary

Location
Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido Map
Client
Higashikagura City
Design
Preliminary Design：Sou Fujimoto Architects,Working Design：DOCON CO.,LTD./ Soumei Architects
Opened
Aug, 2024
Seats
440
(280 retractable seating, 160 stacking chairs)