8 SEKISUI HOUSE’S DREAM FACTORY AND APARTMENT DISPLAY DEMONSTRATES THE EXPLORATION OF NEW IDEAS Just outside Tokyo Sekisui House have a large house display centre that incorporates the testing of construction techniques, earthquake resistance and fire resistance of materials. A cluster of around a dozen display homes are sited in a landscape setting to demonstrate to potential purchasers the quality of the houses and how they will be landscaped. The houses are fully furnished and each has been designed around a typical family or couple and their lifestyle. The layouts are free flowing with open plans and with large double glazed windows that give good views to the surrounding landscape. To demonstrate the quality of the construction the display village includes walls stripped back to the structure and rooms that simulate earthquake conditions with and without Sekisui House earthquake impact minimisation systems. Another area demonstrates how at very high temperatures the house cladding will not catch alight. The extent of testing and of factory prefabrication is impressive. Much of Japan’s houses are now built in factory environments and then assembled on site in short time frames. Sekisui House also builds apartment buildings and at a display centre in Osaka potential clients can walk into fully furnished examples of apartments that they are selling in Osaka. The entry to the display centre is landscaped in the style that the apartment building will incorporate. Like the houses the apartments are open plan with flowing spaces and large windows to the views. It seems underground parking is too expensive in Osaka and car parking is in a tall thin building served by an automatic stacking device.