A global electron microscope manufacturer needed to consolidate two Tokyo-area offices into a single new headquarters — one that included seven specialized microscope lab rooms and a showroom for demonstrating precision instruments. eSolia served as the bilingual bridge between the client's US-based architect and the Japanese construction company and interior designer, managed the entire IT buildout, and designed an environmental monitoring system for the microscope labs.
Project Parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Team | PM x 2, Engineer x 3 |
| Duration | 8 months (planning through move-in) |
| Sites | Two existing offices (Tokyo area) → one new headquarters |
What Needed Solving
The company was running two separate offices in the Tokyo area — splitting teams, duplicating infrastructure costs, and making internal collaboration harder than it needed to be. The new headquarters would bring everyone under one roof, but it came with a constraint the typical office move doesn't have: the building needed seven microscope labs.
Electron microscopes require tightly controlled environments. Vibration, temperature fluctuation, and electromagnetic interference all degrade imaging quality. The lab rooms and adjacent showroom needed specifications well beyond standard office fit-out — reinforced flooring, dedicated power circuits, precise climate control, and vibration isolation.
The client's architect was based in the US. The construction company (kensetsu-gaisha) and interior designer were Japanese. Every requirement, approval, and design decision had to cross that language and cultural gap accurately. Getting the HVAC specs wrong in a microscope lab room isn't a comfort issue — it's an instrument-performance issue.
What We Did
Bilingual liaison was the core of our role. The US architect had detailed requirements for the lab environments, showroom, and office layout. The kensetsu-gaisha owned the construction schedule and execution — as is standard in Japan, all building work runs through the licensed construction company. We hired and managed the interior designer as our subcontractor, coordinating their work with both the architect's vision and the construction company's build.
We sat in every meeting, translated requirements in both directions, and made sure nothing got lost between the architect's specifications and what got built. The HVAC for the microscope lab rooms was an extended negotiation — the temperature and humidity tolerances for electron microscopy are tight, and getting the construction company and the architect aligned on specs required persistent back-and-forth.
IT infrastructure was our direct responsibility. We designed and installed the full IT stack for the new headquarters: structured cabling, network equipment, wireless access points, video conferencing systems, and IP telephony. We also installed a Honeywell physical security system — access control and surveillance for the facility. We connected the new site to the company's global WAN and validated connectivity with their overseas headquarters. This was a greenfield install — clean buildout, no legacy equipment to work around.
Environmental monitoring became a mini-project of its own. We proposed, designed, and installed sensor arrays in all seven microscope lab rooms — temperature, humidity, and seismic sensors feeding continuous readings. The volume of sensor data required a time series database to store and query effectively. This gave the client real-time visibility into lab conditions and a historical record for troubleshooting any imaging anomalies.
The move consolidated both offices into the new headquarters. We handled the IT side — disconnecting, transporting, reconnecting, and testing every workstation, printer, and shared device across both locations.
What the Client Gained
- Two offices consolidated into one, eliminating redundant lease and infrastructure costs
- Seven lab rooms meeting the environmental standards electron microscopy demands — vibration isolation, stable climate, clean power
- Continuous environmental monitoring with seismic, temperature, and humidity sensors in all seven labs
- All IT infrastructure installed, tested, and operational before staff arrived
- The client's US-based architect was satisfied with the quality of the finished space — the requirements translated accurately through the construction process
- Bilingual project management bridging the architect, the kensetsu-gaisha, and global HQ — with the interior designer working under eSolia
Technology Involved
- Structured cabling (Cat6)
- Cisco networking (switches, routers, wireless APs)
- Cisco Unified Communications (IP telephony)
- Video conferencing equipment
- Environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, seismic)
- Time series database for sensor data
- Honeywell physical security (access control, surveillance)
- Dedicated electrical circuits and UPS for lab equipment
For office moves, construction projects, and infrastructure work in Tokyo, see our Infrastructure and Project Management services.