ACROS Fukuoka

A 14-story, 60-meter mixed-use cultural facility completed in 1995 in Tenjin, Fukuoka City. Its south-facing exterior is covered by a terraced step garden of fifteen levels, creating one of Asia's most distinctive green facades. Designed by Emilio Ambasz and Nihon Sekkei.

Use

Office tower

Area

Chuo Ward, Fukuoka

Completed

1995

Floors

14 above ground, 4 below

Height

60 m

Developer

Dai-ichi Life Insurance / Mitsui Fudosan / Fukuoka Prefecture

Architect

Emilio Ambasz / Nihon Sekkei

A Green Staircase Rising over Tenjin

At Tenjin 1-chome, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City — steps from Tenjin subway station and fronting Tenjin Central Park — stands a building unlike almost any other in Japan. ACROS Fukuoka, completed in 1995, rises 14 stories above ground (with four basement levels) to a height of 60 meters. Its defining feature is a terraced step garden that climbs the building’s entire south face in fifteen broad levels, hosting a diverse planting of trees, shrubs, and seasonal flowers that change the building’s appearance with each season.

The basic concept came from Argentine-born architect Emilio Ambasz, a proponent of what he called “green architecture” — integrating built form and living landscape. The detailed design and supervision were handled by Nihon Sekkei. Development was a joint venture between Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Mitsui Fudosan, and Fukuoka Prefecture.

A Cultural Hub Beneath the Green Facade

Behind the garden terraces, ACROS Fukuoka contains the Fukuoka Symphony Hall (2,006 seats), an international conference center, prefectural offices, and private commercial floors. The north side of the building presents an entirely different face: a glass curtain wall that floods the interior with natural light and offers a visual contrast with the living south facade.

The building has been recognized internationally as an influential work of ecological architecture, demonstrating that a large urban office and cultural complex could make a meaningful contribution to the surrounding cityscape’s greenery rather than displacing it. The step garden is open to visitors and can be climbed all the way to the rooftop, which offers views over the Tenjin district and beyond.

Summary

ACROS Fukuoka, completed in 1995, is a 14-story, 60-meter mixed-use facility in the heart of Tenjin. Its fifteen-level step garden, designed by Emilio Ambasz and realized by Nihon Sekkei, transformed a compact urban site into a celebrated example of green architecture. Whether you visit for a concert in the symphony hall, a walk up the terraced garden, or simply to take in its facade from the park, ACROS Fukuoka rewards a detour in Fukuoka’s city center.