The Gate Tower Building
Sept. 26, 2015
One of the most curious buildings in Japan is the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan.
The 5th, 6th and 7th floors of this 16-storey office building are occupied by an express highway – passing right through the building. The highway does not make contact with the building, and a structure surrounding the highway keeps noise and vibration out.
The building has a double core construction, with a circular cross section. The Umeda Exit of the Ikeda Route of the Hanshin Expressway system (when exiting the highway from the direction of Ikeda) passes between the fifth through seventh floors of this building. The highway is the tenant of those floors. The elevator passes through the floors without stopping: floor 4 being followed by floor 8.
The floors through which the highway passes consist of elevators, stairways and machinery. The highway does not make contact with the building. It passes through as a bridge, held up by supports next to the building. The highway is surrounded by a structure to protect the building from noise and vibration. The roof has a helipad.