Obayashi and Join™ partner to bring digital transformation to the built world

Obayashi Corporation, the largest, vertically integrated construction and property development company in Japan and parent company of Webcor and E.W. Howell, and Join Digital, the leader in digital transformation for the built world, have concluded a far reaching partnership that will bring Join’s technology platform to state of the art new construction projects in both North America and Japan.  In addition, the companies announced that Obayashi, through a subsidiary, has made an investment in Join.

Over the past several years, Obayashi has established itself as a thought and action leader in healthy, green, and technology-forward property development. The Obayashi vision has translated into groundbreaking projects such as 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 infuse state of the art technology to create private and public spaces that offer compelling experiences for people. 

Over its near four year life, Join has established itself as a leader digitizing the built world, integrating digital amenities and data-driven insights for owners, tenants, and individuals. Join works with both leading real estate owners as well as occupiers to create technology- and health-forward environments. It was this experience in over 20 markets in North America that led Obayashi to its partnership with and investment in Join. 

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 state of the art WiFi6 services, connect building operations systems (e.g. building automation, HVAC, access control), IoT devices, including environmental sensors (air quality, light, sound), as well as Join’s market leading Portal and Insights products, Join’s dashboards provide 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 digitization 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.”

Obayashi and Join will soon be announcing new offerings in Japan within the coming months. 

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About Join

24 cities | 5 countries | 80+ buildings | 30 million+ square feet

Join delivers digital amenities and data-driven insights to owners, operators, and occupiers across a variety of real estate asset classes.  Founded in Silicon Valley in 2017, Join has been focused on the digitization of the built world for all its stakeholders.  Join operates in 24 markets in five countries and serves more than 30M square feet of Class A office, mixed-use, retail and multi-family properties.  In addition, blue chip enterprises have entrusted Join with the digital amenities delivered to their teams in remote offices.  From wired and wireless data services (WiFi) connected sensors delivering real-time data on occupancy, environment, and physical security, Join’s commitment to open standards, ZeroTrust security, and data privacy has made Join a market innovator and leader.  To learn more, visit www.joindigital.com 

About Obayashi Corporation

Obayashi Corporation has delivered solutions to infrastructure challenges across the globe. Founded in 1892, Obayashi has provided a full range of general contractor services in both public and private works such as Tokyo Central Station, Kansai International Airport, TOKYO SKYTREE, Dubai Metro project, Jewel Changi Airport, and Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. Other services include R&D, design, urban development, maintenance, and renewable energy.

About Webcor

Webcor is a premier provider of commercial construction services whose mission is to build structures of superior quality. Founded in 1971, Webcor has offices in San Francisco, Alameda, San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles.