“RED HILL 1967” A facility to witness and experience the superiority of the Press-in Principle under development

GIKEN LTD. (Head Office: Kochi City, President: Shinnosuke Moribe) is establishing a facility called "RED HILL 1967" in Akaoka-Cho, Konan City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan.  The facility will offer general visitors, including Project owners, consultants, and contractors to witness the advantage of the Press-in Principle by seeing the actual machine, construction methods, and the structure. We aim the facility will provide visitors a complete understanding of the Press-in Principles.

"RED HILL 1967" will be consisted of four areas: the Demonstration area, the "Sozokan" ("The Museum of Piling Machines"), the Research Building, and the “Kochi Factory 3”.

The “Demonstration Area” (shown on ①) will showcase the latest SILENT PILER™ and various structures constructed by the Press-in Method, including the Implant™ Method. The Sozokan (shown on ②) will display the world's piling machines and the past models of the Press-in machinery.  The “Research Building” (shown on ③) is a research facility and will also have an exhibition space to showcase the development history of the Press-in technology. The Kochi Factory 3 (in operation, shown on ④) is the largest domestic factory of GIKEN. The Demonstration area and "Sozokan" are scheduled to open this year and the Research Building in September 2022. The total land area is 36,000 m².

As the adage of "Seeing is believing," the most effective approach to expand the construction method is to have them witness. We ask construction parties first to visit Kochi and receive explanations while looking over the actual machinery. In this way, the superiority of the construction method will be genuinely be told.

Through the experience at “RED HILL 1967”, we expect visitors worldwide to become adherents of the Press-in technology to drive the Construction Revolution globally.

[① Demonstration Area] Land area: Approx. 4600 m²

This site will be a revolutionary area, exhibiting new structures built by the SILENT PILER™, the GRB™ system, and the Implant™ Method. The various construction sites will be reproduced on an actual scale. Among them, the Implant Lock Levee™ that can resist all types of levee breakage factors of river levees strongly in the event of a weather disaster, and construction sites such as; hard ground conditions, adjacent to the railway, under headroom restrictions, will be a masterpiece.

[② Sozokan (The Museum of Piling Machines)] Building area: Approx. 2400 m²

This warehouse facility is an expansion of the "The Museum of Pile Drivers," located in Kochi Head Office. Including the first SILENT PILER™ certified as a Mechanical Engineering Heritage, we plan to exhibit 50 actual machines such as the group's proud inventions and development products and the world's pile drivers with different principles. Historical evolution of the Press-in machine and advantages of the construction principles will be described using presentation panels and videos.

The building is being constructed with a new structure that break-through the conventional building standards, which adopts steel sheet pile for the main components and the confined ground seismic damper* for the foundation.

The development commenced as part of the project of "Distribute the advantages of Press-in Principle from Kochi to the world," an idea advocated by the Founder and Executive Chairman of GIKEN, Mr. Akio Kitamura. To date, we have developed a variety of facilities in Kochi Head Office, including The Museum of Pile Drivers, Tsunami Simulator, ECO Park™, and MOBILE ECO Cycle™, and welcomed many visitors worldwide.

To showcase more of our technology, we have decided to develop a facility in Akaoka-cho, the birthplace of Mr. Kitamura.

From the birth town of our founder, we will distribute the superiority of the Press-in Principle globally.  RED HILL 1967 is named after the location (literal translation of Akaoka: Red Hill, in English) and the year of the company's foundation.

Like GIKEN Group, there are people worldwide who feel distortion in the irrational construction industry and pursue the latest science-based machinery, methods, and structures. We hope those associates will visit RED HILL 1967, experience the Press-in Principle's superiority and historical strengths, and open up the future of construction together. The facility will be a place where visitors will realize the advantages of the Press-in technology and our unique construction methods by witnessing in their own eyes.

Completed facilities will open up accordingly, and visitors are welcome depending on the situation of the COVID-19. Details will be informed on our website.

Address  :    2246-3, Daito, Akaoka-cho, Konan-city, Kochi Prefecture, 781-5310
Site Area  :    36,000m²
Investment Scale  :    1,637 million Japanese Yen (Excludes figure for Kochi Factory 3)

*The information and content included on this page may be subject to change without notice.

■Profile of GIKEN Group
GIKEN developed the SILENT PILER, the world's first reaction-based hydraulic pile jacking machine, installing piles with no noise and vibration. GIKEN Group now actively promotes the Press-in Technology worldwide and contributes to the construction industry by proposing and implementing innovative solutions. The innovative technology of press-in provides a unique solution and the adoption of this technology has grown to more than 40 nations and regions.