Japanese construction and property company Obayashi has partnered San Jose based digital building platform Join Digital. Obayashi, parent company of both Webcor and E.W. Howell, will utilise Join’s platform in the group’s new construction projects in both North America and Japan. The Japanese company has also made an investment in Join.

Obayashi has developed a reputation for technology-based and green property development. The company’s developments include Jewel Changi Airport (Singapore), the Nippon Life Tower, the Takanawa Gateway Station (with Kengo Kuma) and in the United States with the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. The partnership with Join will allow Obayashi to implement digital building technology in its future construction projects.

As the first projects of their partnership, Obayashi and Join are bringing the Join Platform to future forward buildings in Japan and San Francisco. Join will provide advanced WiFi6 services, connect building operations systems such as building automation, HVAC, access control, as well as IoT devices, including environmental sensors such as air quality, light, and sound. The company’s Portal and Insights products will also be installed, with its dashboards providing real-time information to owners and occupants of buildings, combining occupancy and environmental and health metrics for all building constituents. 

“Through our Silicon Valley Venture Labs, Obayashi Corporation has created a partnership ecosystem with innovative technology companies in the United States. Our partnership with Join Digital allows us to unify many of our technology strategies seamlessly, and create a more complete offering to our customers,” said Hiroto Sato, Chief Operating Officer of Obayashi SVVL. “Connectivity and information security are essential for the advanced systems and applications Obayashi is deploying in projects, and we are excited to have Join as a foundational building block for this work.”

“When we were introduced to Hiroto and his colleagues in both Silicon Valley and Tokyo, it was clear that Obayashi had a far-reaching vision that encompassed Join’s focus on digitisation and big data, two key drivers of innovation for the coming decade and beyond,” commented Karl May, co-founder and CEO of Join. “While Join’s business has been focused on existing buildings, Obayashi has shown us how we can engage at the time of design to create better experiences for owners, tenants, and guests from the ground-up. And we are encouraged by the strong resonance we have found together in the market.”