St. Lukes Tower
Tokyo, Japan

HEIGHT: 221m/725 feet
FLOORS: 51 floors
COMPLETION: 1994
ARCHITECT: Nikken Sekkei Ltd

Located on the Sumida River not far from the Tokyo Waterfront development, St, Luke's Garden is immediately recognizable by its unique design : two adjacent buildings of different heights and construction types -- a 38-story steel and reinforced concrete residential tower and a 51-story steel-framed office tower -- set at an angle to each other and joined at a height of 110 meters by an enclosed pedestrian bridge.
The newest addition to a comprehensive medical complex which includes Tokyo's renowned St. Luke's Hospital and Nursing School, St.Luke's Residence Tower offers both accommodations and nursing care for senior citizens. A shopping area located on the lower floors, complete with a bank, post office and wide array of restaurants, is an added convenience, and a moving walkway on the second floor provides easy access to St. Luke's Hospital.
A luxury hotel,the Tokyo New Hankyu Hotel Tsukiji, occupies floors 32 to 38 of the residential tower, with access to and from the office tower afforded by St. Luke's Garden's trademark bridge on the 32nd floor. The 24m-long passageway was specially designed to withstand earthquakes and high winds. Connected to the office tower by a pin and to the residential tower by a roller mechanism, and equipped with a 10-piece expandable floor system, the bridge is able to accommodate expansion or contraction of up to two meters. Among the amenities of the office tower is a restaurant with an outside deck on the 47th floor which commands an unparalleled view of Tokyo Bay and the surrounding area.
Completed in May 1994, St. Luke's Garden was designed by Nikken Sekkei and Tokyu Architects and Engineers, Inc. and constructed by Kajima in a joint venture.
The nature of the project site, which lies between a congested thoroughfare and the Sumida River, necessitated special efforts to shorten the period of construction and reduce its impact on the surrounding area. Accordingly, it was decided to utilize the so-called "inverted" construction method, whereby the completed first-floor slab serves as a platform from which excavation and underground construction work are carried out simultaneously with work on the super-structure. Although the inverted method is generally more expensive than conventional construction, thanks to improvements devised by Kajima and Nikken Sekkei, this approach cut construction time and resulted in cost savings. Moreover, not only was the amount of excavation reduced in comparison with conventional construction methods but arrangements were made to remove excavated material by barge in order to minimize vehicular traffic to and from the construction site.
Taking advantage of the building's waterfront location, an expansive 18.5m-high glass-enclosed plaza at the base of the two towers offers a spectacular unobstructed view of the Sumida River, For the 1 ,800m2 glass roof -- among the largest in Japan -- Kajima used a structural sealant glazing system to affix triangular multi-paned glass panels to a three dimensional truss framework. In addition, the panels were secured with aluminum clasps. Sashless dot point glazing, which provides good resistance to wind, earthquakes and loading, was utilized to fasten the frameless glass panels used for the two walls of the plaza.

http://img43.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/ROT/luke2.jpg

http://tokyoyakei.cool.ne.jp/tokyo/seiroka/seiroka-12.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/574/2822seiroka_garden_tower.jpg

http://img43.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/ROT/luke3.jpg

5/10...The colors are boring, and there are too many setbacks. The shape is all over the place. It's nothing special.

http://tokyoyakei.cool.ne.jp/tokyo/seiroka/seiroka-12.jpg
left
http://tokyoyakei.cool.ne.jp/tokyo/sumida/katidoki-bashi/katidoki-2.jpg
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/nakanyakki/kani/sl4.jpg

Boxy, but not so bad.

Ugly at night, okay at day. 6/10

Nikken sekkei never dissappointed my test, Differently set-back of two buildings created an uniquely twins with the trillfully and incradibly column-free skybridge which is very well-going with the Sloping autrium lobby and gives the sensational marvellous looking to the whole complex.Gray-cladding and darker-black windows are the best combination for this two structures....St. Luke's Towers are Tokyo Waterfront's Pitch-Perfect....9.5/10

Very interesting tower.. Its shape is somewhat weird but looks good.. i like the mini skybridge :)

7.5/10

nice night view! 9/10

the setbacks are ok, but the grey color is kinda bland

Thanks for the extra pictures coldstar!

6.5/10

It looks rather impersonal..the setbacks dont help much although the skybridge is cool. Luckily they made one twin smaller than the other or the whole thing would look too imposing.

Too bland. 6.0/10

i like this one! 10/10

7/10

I don't like the colour:(At night it does look nice though.
6.0/10

not so bad 7/10

Japanese towers seem to always look about the same, especially with thos windows? 7/10.

Originally posted by james2390

i like this one! 10/10
lol, why did i say i like this one, lol, it looks awful, 6

5.5

5. the design
.5 for the skybridge

Nothing for me, 5.5/10

average. nothing to remember 5/10

its ok...kinda queer..

7/10

its ok...odd looking skybridge, but it is a plus. 6.5

facade: i don't like
form: ok
points: 6

6/10


Not my type

Looks allright, but hard to judge fully from these pictures.


7/10

5/10 - Bland and unimpressive

I DO NOT like concrete on skyscraper facades, the setbacks are so clumsy they don't help the height at all, the dull, boring facade doesn't dance with the light, the towers are far too bulky and graceless to make any attempt at soaring.....

The architectural equivalent of hospital food, I suppose....

It's ok, nothing special

7/10

7/10

too plain...that's all i can say.

6

7.5/10

...mmm.... 5

looks ....er... normal

6/10

5/10

4, that façade is really ugly

5.5/10
Ugly brown facade. Boring, uninspiring design.

5/10

Strange. 6.5/10.

5.0

a curse upon the skyline of tokyo. 4

Horible, a bit like a big guys hospital in London, 5/10

5.5/10

An okay building, though the windows look strange. The skybridge adds a lot though, so I give it an 8/10. :okay:

7! :)

It was the 1st building in Tokyo i ever seen. Just for that i cant say i dont like it!
8.5

7/10

The shape is good, but facade is really bad :sly: 5/10 + 0,5 for the skybridge.

Its okay, nothing great
7/10

The windows are too simple and the shape is too industrial.The best feature of the buildins is the bridge connecting the towers.
6.5/10

7/10

7.5/10

7.

Japanese always like to design the highrises in this boring trend. :(

Ugly one!!:bash: 4/10.

7/10

Not the prettiest tower in tha world. 6.5/10

7/10

ugly 7/10

7/10 - I have stayed at the 38th and 32nd floor at the New Hankyu Hotel ( The small tower - 38 floors ) and the view was absolutely amazing! Especially the first night! I sat and looked out the window for 3 hours the first night.

Hi res pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/403553528/403574421bqkubo 38th floor - East
http://community.webshots.com/photo/403553528/403577355eQFuGS# 38th floor south east
http://community.webshots.com/photo/403553528/403939660XWTLWf - 32nd floor - north

7/10

3/10

not bad at all 8/10

6/10.

6/10

Pretty good by night, pretty bad by day. It seems that Tokyo scrapers always prefer to be seen by night ^ ^
Maybe it's innovative but it's still rather ugly.
4.

Not ugly but not special. 7/10

6.5/10

Boring, that is all I got to say about this building. Who ever architect it didn't make enough efforts on uniqueness. It looks way too bland, très mal pour moi. The windows, the design, it looks kind of ugly. There is also a bridge connecting to another building. You see, the Petronas Towers was a good effort, this building is like playing with a pencil compared to playing a LIFE VIDEOGAME!!! Whatever, I'm going to play some games. 4/10.

7.5, ill give them a credit, since the design has to factor in earthquake resistance.

6.5/10

7.5/10 :) :) :) :) :) :) :) ;)

4/10 Concrete Looks bad and it's just an overall bland structure

no thanks, 6/10

7/10

6/10. Ugly :(

Mediocre 6.5/10

Gross. The windows, the setbacks, the colors, the shape, all of it gross gross. the only thing it has going for it is the length of the sky bridge.

3.5/10

Thos tower needs something that I don't know. It has a weird shape too. 7/10

6/10 i dont like it sorry

3,5/10

one of my favorites. 9.5/10

7/10

5/10

really cool tower, 8.5/10

2/10

I don't think there was any real design effort involved.

6.5/10

8/10

looks ugly 3/10

6/10

7.5 ok.

The colors to it makes it look old, but it looks awesome at night. 8/10

0 / 10

a good practice target for submarine launched cruise missiles in the pacific.

0 / 10

a good practice target for submarine launched cruise missiles in the pacific.

LOL!!! SLBM's and SLCM's are pretty expensive. The building is big enough for 1930 era single engine dive bombers, like the Yokosuka D4Y Suisei. I think the Japanese still have some of those in their museums.

7/10

4/10

Nah not my style. 6 out of 10.

9/10

Nothing pleasing about them.

6/10

2/10

4/10

:(

Boring 4/10.

7/10

5.5/10 ugly

5/10

7/10

4/10

6/10

4/10

not bad 7/10

Very strange, but not in a good way. . :P 4/10 at best. :S

4/10

7/10

Nothing spectacular about this....

6.5

6/10

The bridge is interesting.

8/10

6/10

5/

7.5/10

5.5/10

5/10

6.5/10

7/10

7/10

8. Good building. Regards.

6/10

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/230641892_d5497736ec.jpg

Shot from St. Luke's Tower.

7.5/10

It's Ok, not bad at all 7/10

7/10

7/10

6.5

ok. average.
7/10

7/10

Ugly!!!!!

That´s a 3 for me.

7/10

6/10

Ok, but a bit too brutalist for me. Also, I don't like the connection in mid-air. 5.5/10

9/10

The only thing I like is the bridge...
6.5

7.5, though it's just an auful coloured box.

6/10

6.5/10

8/10

6/10

It's ugly and plain, but at least it soars a bit.

6/10

7,5/10

7/10, not bad

7.5/10