APA hotels found to have falsified structual data, fail to meet earthquake-resistance standards
I hope you’re not reading this from the inside of a building designed by Mr. Mitsuo Mizuochi right now, or you might be in for some unpleasant news:
Two Apa Group hotels in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, were found not to meet earthquake-resistance standards as their structural data had been falsified, the Construction and Transport Ministry said Thursday.
The hotels were designed by licensed Class 1 architect Mitsuo Mizuochi of the design firm Tamura Mizuochi Sekkei in Toyama. The ministry will inspect 168 buildings designed by the architect in Toyama Prefecture and other areas to learn whether their data was also falsified.
The Kyoto municipal government advised the group to suspend operations of the hotels and ordered them to be brought up to standard.
The hotels are the 10-story Apa Villa Hotel Kyoto-Ekimae with 139 rooms and the 11-story Apa Hotel Kyoto-Eki-Horikawadori with 515 rooms. The Kyoto-Ekimae hotel met only 71 percent of the required earthquake-resistance, while the Horikawadori hotel met 79 percent.
The Kanazawa-based Apa Group operates hotels and apartment buildings across the nation.
According to the ministry, the Kyoto Organization of Confirmation and Inspection confirmed the structure of the hotels would meet the standard in August 2003.
That’s some fine confirmation and inspection!
