While inheriting the design of its predecessor,
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Atsushi Nakamura, Mechanical MEP Engineering Department, Mechanical MEP Engineering Department

A major theme of this project was to introduce the latest facilities while retaining the design of the previous Kabukiza. If we were to build a completely new theater, we would be able to consider the spatial composition of the building and facilities together, but with this project, the spatial composition of the theater was already decided to a certain extent, so we faced the challenge of planning facilities that would satisfy the high level of performance required.

We held numerous meetings with our company's design staff to come up with the design. The mechanical equipment, including the air conditioning and sanitary equipment, was installed by a total of four companies, and we spent a lot of time repeatedly meeting with the contractors to discuss the many issues that arose right up until the very last minute before construction began. There were many difficulties, but we all shared the desire to make use of the design of the previous Kabukiza and reinvent it as a more highly functional building, so I think we were able to work toward the same goal and persevere to overcome each problem one by one.

Air conditioning simulation verified through airflow experiments

The ceiling is very low behind the first and second floor seats in the theater, and it is a special folded ceiling that inherited the design of the previous Kabukiza. A large amount of air conditioning airflow is required inside the theater, but it is necessary to maintain a uniform thermal environment in the space while giving as much consideration as possible to the design of the ceiling. Of course, there should be no complaints that "the wind hits the body" or that it is "hot or cold". The business owner also requested improvement in this respect, so we carried out airflow experiments to deal with temperature, airflow, and low noise, and we worked out the plan while repeatedly verifying it. We simulated it while experiencing it ourselves in a model experiment. Kabuki performances are longer than general theater performances, and it is necessary to assume that the audience will be sitting in the seats for about four hours. We could not compromise so that the air conditioning would not cause discomfort to the customers. Regarding the toilets, we took into consideration the fact that many women, especially those wearing traditional Japanese clothing, visit the theater. There were many things I learned as a designer, such as making it so that people in kimono can use the toilets without feeling stressed, for example, making it so that the sleeves do not get wet even when they hold their hands over the sink. We also deliberately installed household air conditioners for the dressing rooms, allowing for detailed control of the air conditioning, because for the actors, the dressing room during a performance is the same as home.

Electrical MEP Engineering MEP Engineering: Yasunori Yamaguchi

In this project, Shochiku, the project owner, had various sections, including the real estate department, the theater department, and the Kabukiza Theater, with the Kabukiza Theater Development Promotion Office at the center, and they all had their own requests. Since each section has different operational objectives, the requests were not centralized, so the key was for us to organize and share the information we received from each section. For example, there were many detailed orders that were specific to the production of a kabuki theater, such as "We will be burning smoke in some performances, so please prepare a power source for that." Since normal theaters are used for general purposes, there are not such detailed requests. It would be difficult if even one request was not realized, so it was important to share information. In particular, the electrical equipment is diverse, so I think that by working closely with each department, we were able to consolidate the functions of a kabuki theater. The important role of the electrical equipment is to connect various facilities, including the stage equipment, and if that role is missing, it could cause problems in the theater's operations.

The first attempt to use LED indirect lighting in theater seats

As a theater dedicated to Kabuki, the lighting for the auditorium needs to be of a high level. It needs to be well coordinated with the stage lighting and have smoother dimming. However, the LED lighting method that was initially planned to be adopted did not meet the needs of the project owner. At the time of planning, the LED technology was not yet able to meet the project owner's needs, as it was not possible to smoothly dim the low luminance and the output was weak. Since it was a transitional period for LED lighting, we waited until the last minute to determine the timing of adopting the equipment. Since the light-emitting part and the power supply part are each made by different manufacturers, we relied on all kinds of information and explored the possibility of adopting a new method that would clear the dimming control and output aspects. After numerous tests while changing the combination of light source and power supply, we finally created a lighting equipment that met the needs of the new method. It was a new attempt and risky to realize the soft and uniform light required for Kabuki with LED indirect lighting, but we achieved both a very wonderful lighting effect and ease of maintenance, which became a major feature in terms of electrical equipment.