Scaling Wooden Architecture Globally: Kotaro Anzai Appointed as SANU CPO to Evolve Buildings into 'Products.'
SANU Inc. has appointed Kotaro Anzai, CEO of its subsidiary ADX, as CPO to lead the newly established Architecture Product Division. The company aims to redefine architecture as evolving products with a 90% factory production rate.
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- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 02:20 (14h 48m after Collected)
SANU Inc. (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Gen Fukushima) has appointed Kotaro Anzai—representative director of ADX Inc., which became a subsidiary in May 2025—as Executive Officer CPO - Architecture (Chief Product Officer, Architecture) and General Manager of the Architecture Product Division. This move marks the full-scale launch of their architectural product development system. A new 'nature-symbiotic modular architecture' product, covering everything from material procurement to design, manufacturing, and deployment in-house, will be announced in Autumn 2026.
Background of CPO Appointment:
The Japanese construction industry is at a structural turning point. The number of skilled construction workers has dropped from its peak of 4.55 million in 1997 to 3.05 million in 2023, coupled with an aging workforce. Furthermore, construction accounts for roughly 30% of Japan's final energy consumption and 40% of its CO2 emissions. Reducing environmental impact while delivering quality architecture is an industry-wide challenge.
Wooden architecture offers a powerful answer. Wood acts as a carbon stock, and its use promotes forest metabolism. Japan is a forest-rich nation with 67% of its land covered in trees, and its traditional wooden construction techniques are world-renowned for their precision and harmony with the climate. However, a mechanism to deliver these structures 'repeatedly, quickly, and anywhere' has yet to be established.
SANU has challenged the delivery of architecture to Japan's most beautiful and remote natural settings—steep slopes, heavy snow zones, and humid environments where traditional construction logic often fails. Through this, we realized that the solution requires an integrated approach to design, manufacturing, and construction. Now integrated with ADX, which has three generations of experience building in the nature of Tohoku, we have the conditions to create this mechanism.
What is 'Nature-Symbiotic Modular Architecture'?
The Architecture Product Division led by Anzai is an organization that handles wooden architecture capable of adapting to harsh natural environments through an in-house integrated process. In traditional construction, design, manufacturing, and construction are fragmented. By removing these boundaries, SANU aims to transform architecture from 'one-off custom builds' into 'products that evolve based on guest experiences,' targeting 100 domestic locations by 2029 and subsequent global expansion.
Key Development Points of the New Product:
1. 90% Factory Production Rate: Moving from 'building on-site' to 'manufacturing in a factory.' SANU will raise the factory production ratio—previously 50% for BEE and 65% for MOSS—to 90%. Assembling precision units on-site enables a record-breaking two-week construction time.
2. Overcoming Timber Limits: By merging digital analysis with traditional techniques, SANU achieves large spans (pillar-free spaces) previously difficult in wood, even in heavy snow environments.
3. Circular R&D: Actively using wood as a building material promotes forest metabolism. SANU is building a system where 'the more we build, the more nature recovers.'
SANU operates 'SANU 2nd Home' under the vision 'Live with nature.' ADX, founded in 1964 in Fukushima, has been a partner since SANU's founding. Their previous collaboration on 'BEE' won the Ministry of the Environment Award and was visited by the Prime Minister, recognized as a pinnacle of circular architecture with low environmental impact and consideration for disassembly.
Background of CPO Appointment:
The Japanese construction industry is at a structural turning point. The number of skilled construction workers has dropped from its peak of 4.55 million in 1997 to 3.05 million in 2023, coupled with an aging workforce. Furthermore, construction accounts for roughly 30% of Japan's final energy consumption and 40% of its CO2 emissions. Reducing environmental impact while delivering quality architecture is an industry-wide challenge.
Wooden architecture offers a powerful answer. Wood acts as a carbon stock, and its use promotes forest metabolism. Japan is a forest-rich nation with 67% of its land covered in trees, and its traditional wooden construction techniques are world-renowned for their precision and harmony with the climate. However, a mechanism to deliver these structures 'repeatedly, quickly, and anywhere' has yet to be established.
SANU has challenged the delivery of architecture to Japan's most beautiful and remote natural settings—steep slopes, heavy snow zones, and humid environments where traditional construction logic often fails. Through this, we realized that the solution requires an integrated approach to design, manufacturing, and construction. Now integrated with ADX, which has three generations of experience building in the nature of Tohoku, we have the conditions to create this mechanism.
What is 'Nature-Symbiotic Modular Architecture'?
The Architecture Product Division led by Anzai is an organization that handles wooden architecture capable of adapting to harsh natural environments through an in-house integrated process. In traditional construction, design, manufacturing, and construction are fragmented. By removing these boundaries, SANU aims to transform architecture from 'one-off custom builds' into 'products that evolve based on guest experiences,' targeting 100 domestic locations by 2029 and subsequent global expansion.
Key Development Points of the New Product:
1. 90% Factory Production Rate: Moving from 'building on-site' to 'manufacturing in a factory.' SANU will raise the factory production ratio—previously 50% for BEE and 65% for MOSS—to 90%. Assembling precision units on-site enables a record-breaking two-week construction time.
2. Overcoming Timber Limits: By merging digital analysis with traditional techniques, SANU achieves large spans (pillar-free spaces) previously difficult in wood, even in heavy snow environments.
3. Circular R&D: Actively using wood as a building material promotes forest metabolism. SANU is building a system where 'the more we build, the more nature recovers.'
SANU operates 'SANU 2nd Home' under the vision 'Live with nature.' ADX, founded in 1964 in Fukushima, has been a partner since SANU's founding. Their previous collaboration on 'BEE' won the Ministry of the Environment Award and was visited by the Prime Minister, recognized as a pinnacle of circular architecture with low environmental impact and consideration for disassembly.