Life Site NOKIRO

Life Site NOKIRO — IADA 2026 award

Life Site NOKIRO received Platinum Winner recognition at the International Architecture & Design Awards 2026 in Public Building & Civic Architecture. Project status, design team and credits are listed alongside the presentation.

About the project

---Design Statement---
LifeSite Nokiro uses wood sourced almost entirely from Niigata Prefecture. While steel frames and concrete are often used for buildings accommodating large numbers of people, such as public facilities, LifeSite Nokiro employed wood sourced almost entirely from Niigata Prefecture, driven by the philosophy of “local materials, local construction”—building with local materials and local craftsmen. We believe utilizing local timber promotes forest sustainability by supporting local logging and sawmill operations. Additionally, it reduces material transportation costs and CO2 emissions, offering both environment

---Idea---
Local materials, local construction—we prioritise designing from the mountains up. Wood procurement involves logs harvested from nearby forests managed by our affiliated organisation. These logs are sawn and processed to ensure optimal use for each application, then transported to a pre-cut facility for on-site construction.The sawmill is only about 20 km from the logging site, minimizing transportation costs. The savings are then invested in reforestation costs, contributing to a circular forestry model. Logs harvested from the forest are categorize

---Differentiation---
Rather than prioritizing material supply based on designs and spaces typical architectural firms seek to create, we design using logs of sizes easily sourced from local mountains and forests through thoughtful design. Guided by the philosophy of “designing from the mountains” and the concept of “local materials for local construction,” we process logs harvested from the forests of our subsidiary, UC Factory Co., Ltd. This creates a local circulation system that reduces transportation costs and establishes a unique supply chain. We harvest 3 hectares at a time from an 86-year-old forest and collaborate with the local forestry association to ca

---Sustainability---
Local materials, local construction—we prioritize designing from the mountains up. Wood procurement involves logs harvested from the forests of UC Factory Co., Ltd., a separate company of Ishida Shinichi Architects & Associates, where President Ishida serves as representative. These logs are sawn and processed to ensure optimal use for each application, then transported to a pre-cut factory for on-site construction. The sawmill is only about 20 km from the logging site, minimizing transportation costs. The savings are then invested in reforestation costs, contributing to a circular forestry model.

SIA inc. /Shinichi Ishhida Architect

Forestry architect. Creating beautiful landscapes that will last for 100 years through "Local Materials, Local Construction, and Long Loved Design." The company is involved in forestry, lumbering, architectural design, manufacturing, and community development.The company is also involved in the branding and promotion of "Uonuma-cedar," a Japanese cedar produced in the Uonuma region of Niigata Prefecture.