Connect local ties and create communities Nobeoka Station Square Complex ENCROSS

A new community center focused on civic activities and BOOK & CAFÉ

　ENCROSS, a complex in front of Nobeoka Station, is a new community center focused on civic activities and BOOK & CAFE.In the hall, the citizens are able to participate in a multitude of exchanges through the 70 or so activities held by the staff each month.

In October 2014, CCC started collaborating with Nobeoka City, and in July 2016, CCC was entrusted with the management and operation of the Station Square Complex. The local government had asked us to enliven and revitalize the city.We thought about how we could create dynamism unique to Nobeoka, and have proposed the following nine ideas.

• To be a public facility that is always open and operates 365 days a year, 8am to 9pm.
• To be the largest BOOK & CAFE in East Kyushu
• To provide each user their own cozy place to be.
• To be a facility that is holding a variety of events everyday.
• To be a venue for carrying out civic activities in an open space—to be a happy place for citizens to make announcements
• To be a facility that is considerate to women and children.
• To be Nobeoka Station’s information hub.
• To be able to carefully select and deliver good products for the local community
• To have a complex that people can comfortably use as a waiting space of the station

Our concept is that of a new and free city

　ENCROSS is a public transportation waiting area, a book lounge where you can freely read books, a TSUTAYA BOOKS, a BOOK & CAFÉ where you can enjoy Starbucks coffee, and a place for hobbies and raising children—it is a place that anyone can use for a variety of purposes, where you can spend your leisure time casually exploring your ideas.

Based on the concept of a new and free city, ENCROSS is used as a place where people create a lively vibe at the center of the city through civic activities 365 days a year. As of the end of September 2020, about two and a half years after its opening, the number of visitors has reached 2.71 million people.A total of 1,951 civic activities and voluntary projects have been carried out at ENCROSS, while the number of registered activities by civic activists counted at 215.A wide variety of civic activities are held in and outside the building everyday.

The name ENCROSS is an amalgamation of the word “En” which is the reading of延in Nobeoka’s kanji as well as the pronunciation of縁which means “bond” in Japanese, and the word “cross”, which refers to ENCROSS as a place where many people meet and come across each other—it is a place for all to build different kinds of connections.

Nakabayashi, who was involved in proposing the idea and blueprint to Nobeoka City, was hoping that citizens would participate in communicating within the confines of the facility.For example, when a person is engaged in ones’ own hobbies and gets involved with someone who contemplates about local medical care are able to cross pollinate, unique ideas are bound to happen.It is for reasons like these that we established the space without the use of partition walls.How great would it be if citizens who gathered in this space could think about community development and make suggestions on policies to the city.(Nakabayashi)

The books placed in ENCROSS are selected based on people’s opinions collected during the citizens' workshop.Most of the topics of these books are pertinent to hobbies and daily life―all easy to read while waiting for the train to depart.Since it is a center for civic activities, we have also placed books on DIY and handicrafts right next to the work space to create a comfortable environment for activities.

There have been 2.71 million visitors in two and a half years since the museum was opened.

The number of visitors has reached 2.71 million people in the two and a half years since ENCROSS’ opening in April 2018.In that time span, the number of civic activities held reached 1,951, and the number of registered activities by civic activists was 215. Through the civic activities that we have been promoting since the beginning, ENCROSS has become a place to nurture ideas, encourage exchanges and stimulate activities in the city.

Nobeoka Station Area Project that Encompasses ENCROSS was Granted the 2020 Good Design Awards’ “Gold Award”

Under the Architecture category, Nobeoka City, Inui Architects, Nobeoka Design Union Confederation, studio-L Inc., Ueda, Kodama, Tomoyuki, Kume joint venture group, Kyushu Railway Company, and Culture Convenience Club Co.,Ltd. won the 2020 Good Design Awards’ “Gold Award.”“Rather than merely erecting a new building, this redevelopment project, through the course of several workshops, focused on creating a new public space, all the while building bonds between the citizens of its community, ” such was the adulation bestowed upon us as appraisal for this project.

★ Inquiries
CCC Public Service Planning: [email protected]