Akio Takahashi, Hiroki Sugino (TAISEI DESIGN Planners Architects & Engineers)

Furubira town is a municipality that is pioneering efforts to preserve the global environment, such as making the first “Zero Carbon City Declaration” in Hokkaido. The old municipal building was used for nearly 100 years, but was rebuilt due to its earthquake resistance and vulnerability to disasters. This region is very cold and covered heavy snow in winter. In this harsh environment, our aim was the achievement of significant energy savings and environmentally friendly architecture to create a sustainable town that will carry on for the next 100 years.