Before Tenjin Business Center II opens this summer, Fukuoka Now toured the building with architect Shohei Shigematsu to see how his vision for Fukuoka has evolved.
When Fukuoka Now first interviewed Fukuoka-born architect Shohei Shigematsu in 2022, the original Tenjin Business Center had just opened as the first completed project of Fukuoka City’s Tenjin Big Bang redevelopment. At the time, the OMA partner spoke less about architecture than about cities. He questioned whether office buildings should remain closed environments and argued they needed to become destinations where people gather, exchange ideas and create new opportunities.
For readers familiar with our first interview, this felt less like a new conversation than the continuation of one.
Four years later, we met him again inside the nearly completed Tenjin Business Center II, just weeks before it opens to the public.
Much has changed since that first conversation.
Not only has Tenjin’s skyline continued to evolve, but, as Shigematsu put it, “the notion of workspace has changed a lot.”
As we followed him through the newly completed building, Shigematsu rarely stopped to admire the architecture itself. Instead, he pointed to the places where people would meet: a broad staircase overlooking the seven-storey atrium, seating beside the bookstore, planted terraces, and the direct connection to Tenjin Chikagai.
Looking out across City Hall plaza toward the greenery of ACROS Fukuoka, he explained that this prominent civic setting shaped the entire design. Rather than creating another inward-looking office tower, he wanted the building to extend the city’s public realm indoors, blurring the boundaries between the square, the park, the street and the spaces where people gather.
A Building Shaped by the Pandemic
Standing beneath the building’s dramatic central atrium, Shigematsu explained that Tenjin Business Center II was originally conceived alongside the first building. But because the project was completed in phases, the second building benefited from an unexpected opportunity.
“It actually turned out much better that it happened in phases,” he said. “The first building was before COVID. This one is after COVID. Through the pandemic, the notion of workspace changed a lot.”
He believes that change fundamentally altered what an office building could be.
“I think this really happened only because of the pandemic,” he said. “If the pandemic didn’t happen, I think they would have done the same as the first building.”
Instead of maximizing leasable office space, the first five levels have been transformed into a public-facing environment centred around a seven-storey atrium called the Accelerium — a name combining “atrium” and “accelerator.”
“Rather than relying only on tenant spaces, we’ve made the lower five levels much more inviting to the public,” he explained.
“They’re places the tenants can use, but also places where anyone can come.”
More Than an Office Building
Throughout the tour, Shigematsu kept returning to one idea: openness.
“Office buildings are typically not public buildings,” he said.
His ambition was to blur that traditional boundary.
“We wanted to create an office building that everyone can enjoy.”
The building connects directly to Tenjin Chikagai while opening toward City Hall Plaza above, creating a seamless link between the underground city and the civic heart of Tenjin. A large bookstore, cafés, gathering spaces and coworking facilities are all arranged around the atrium, encouraging visitors to stay rather than simply pass through.
He even pointed out details many people may never notice. The planting, for example, is integrated into the building rather than simply placed on top of the floor slabs.
“Everything was planned from the very beginning,” he said. “We wanted it to feel more like being outside — almost like a park.”
As Tenjin continues to become denser, he believes buildings need to provide breathing space.
“We needed this kind of open-ended buffer zone between the city, the public space and the office space.”
Designing for Unexpected Encounters
If there was one word that defined our tour, it was collision.
Standing in the atrium overlooking multiple levels of activity, Shigematsu described the space not simply as a visual feature but as a place designed to bring people together.
“There’s a lot of research showing that collisions between different stakeholders actually create innovation,” he said.
Visitors browsing the bookstore, startup founders, office workers and members of the public all share the same spaces.
“Hopefully new ideas come out of this atrium,” he said, “rather than it just being a visual connection.”
It’s an unusually human way of describing architecture. Throughout the tour, he spoke less about materials or structural engineering than about conversations, chance encounters and the energy created when different communities overlap.
Why Fukuoka?
Eventually, the conversation shifted from the building itself to the city around it.
Rather than comparing Fukuoka with Tokyo, Shigematsu argued that the city’s greatest strength lies in its scale.
“There is something about Fukuoka’s size that is quite unique.”
He believes mid-sized developments allow architects and developers to experiment in ways that are often impossible on much larger projects.
“I would like to show through this project that a mid-sized project can actually take slightly bigger experimentation and more risk,” he said. “You can do something more adventurous.”
For Shigematsu, that makes Fukuoka an ideal testing ground for new ideas about urban life.
Completing an Idea
Looking back at our interview from four years ago, one thing stands out.
When discussing the original Tenjin Business Center, Shigematsu said he wished he could have incorporated more public functions into the building. He argued that office buildings should become destinations where people wanted to gather rather than simply places to work.
Tenjin Business Center II feels like the continuation of that conversation.
Asked how he hopes the building will be remembered a decade from now, he didn’t mention its architecture or its height.
Instead, he offered a simple answer.
“I hope it’s remembered as one of the city’s open buildings.”
For an architect whose work spans New York, Tokyo and cities around the world, it is a fitting ambition for a project in his hometown: not simply to add another landmark to Fukuoka’s skyline, but to create a building that becomes part of the city’s everyday life.
Profile
Shohei Shigematsu is an architect, a partner at OMA, and head of the firm’s New York office. He also serves as Director of the BeCAT Center for Architecture Research and Education at Kyushu University. He was born in Fukuoka Prefecture.
His major projects include the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Tiffany & Co.’s Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Toranomon Hills Station Tower, the renovation of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, and the New Museum expansion in New York. He has also designed the exhibition space for Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and developed the master plan for The ReefLine, an underwater sculpture park in Miami.
Tenjin Business Center II: At a Glance
Opening this August, Tenjin Business Center II combines offices, restaurants, retail, startup incubation and public gathering spaces in one of Tenjin Big Bang’s largest new developments.
What makes it different?
- Seven-storey Accelerium atrium designed as a public gathering space
- Direct connections to Tenjin Station and Tenjin Chikagai
- Public-facing lower floors with restaurants, cafés, bookstore and coworking areas
Dining & Shopping
- 22 restaurants across the expanded Tenjin Inachika food street
- Junkudo Bookstore
- Starbucks Reserve Cafe (Kyushu’s first)
- Käfer ALPS KITCHEN (Japan’s first)
- Goldwin flagship store (opening this autumn)
Innovation
FIL.Tenjin will support deep-tech startups in AI, robotics, semiconductors, energy, space and other advanced technologies.
For Office Workers
The Reboot! shared amenity includes a gym, sauna, golf simulator, café lounge and flexible meeting spaces.
Building
18 floors | 87.6 m tall | Opens August 2026
Architect: Shohei Shigematsu / OMA
Text & photos: by Nick and Emiko Szasz (Fukuoka Now)