Iwate Prefecture Wellness Center | Urban A&O

The Iwate Prefecture Wellness Center is a premier sustainability-focused development, centered around an advanced medical and hospitality campus and a Sustainable Development Goal World Center mixed-use facility.

Architecture, Construction & Design Awards 2022
First Award | Interiors – HealthcareWellness (Concept)

Project Name: Iwate Prefecture Wellness Center
Project Category: Interiors – Healthcare/Wellness (Concept)
Studio Name: Urban A&O
Design Team:
Joe MacDonald, Lead Architect and Project Director
Angelos Alfatzis, Director of Computational Design
Cefelo Manuel, Lead Computational Designer
Denise Chang, Architectural Designer
Area: 6,400SM
Year: 2022
Location: Iwate Prefecture, Japan
Consultants: Buro Happold

This project is part of a 400-acre development in Japan, the Global Family Green Resort, and is adjacent to a hot spring villa and a rare national park of exceptional beauty, two hours north of Tokyo, Japan.

Taking advantage of the unique natural setting, the project brings together health, hospitality, and green high-tech businesses. Expansion will encompass further advanced technology infrastructure services, building a community that is in harmony with the environment whilst increasingly serving the future needs of local and international clients.

A top-tier Harvard University-based medical team on-site will be included from the outset, with a view to continuity into operations, and will provide emerging, cutting-edge medical capabilities.

Iwate Region Highlights:

• Scenic area two hours north of Tokyo.
• Development adjacent to the rare Towada-Hachimantai National Park.
• Natural hot springs; with historically acknowledged wellness benefits.
• Vertical Farming fruit and vegetable production and harvesting on-site.
• Home to six ski resorts.
• Several prestigious international boarding schools.

Phase One of the project aims to create a World-Class Medical, Wellness & Destination Resort Campus. The facility will deliver world-class medical solutions to the local population whilst also attracting top-tier medical and wellness tourism to the locale. Medical services will encompass advanced cancer treatments, leading diagnostics, and all supporting and ancillary services. Expedient diagnosis and efficiency treatment will be one of the key features.

A top tier spa, hotel and resort facilities will be developed adjacent to the medical campus. All facilities will be powered by high density rooftop solar (Concentrated Solar Power) to reduce reliance on local electrical grid reliance and a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

Phase Two of the project will see an expansion of existing development into a larger Green Smart City concept. A vertical farm will be implemented, to provide fresh organic produce to the development’s restaurants, hotels, and retail shopping. Ample amenities and sustainable design are combined to create a vibrant, rich, and appealing place to live, work and play. Finally, a luxury passenger train in the style of the Orient Express will be connecting Tokyo to Iwate Prefecture.