Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Site Size: 710 square feet

Project Size: 690 square feet (2 stories)

Program: The compact site, located along on a narrow, one-lane street, is situated in a relatively verdant residential district in Tokyo in a neighborhood that contains a mixture of detached houses and low-rise condominiums.

Solution: The two-story wood structure, completed in April 2011, has a gabled roof typical of the neighborhood. On the first floor, large windows incised in the wood-clad walls offer generous views of nearby trees. Plywood sheaths the interior walls and gives the open-plan space a sense of intimacy.

One half of the second floor contains two bedrooms, a bath, and a narrow, south-facing outdoor terrace. The other half, devoted to a study, has a slatted floor of two-by-threes with 1.18-inch gaps. The open slots allow residents to catch glimpses of activity below and make it possible for daylight to permeate the two floors.

People

Completion Date:
April 2011

Gross square footage:
64.03 square meters (690 square feet)

Architect:
Go Hasegawa & Associates
2-18-7 Gaien Building 5F
Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo #150-0001, Japan
tel  +81-3-3403-0336
fax +81-3-3403-0337

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Engineer(s):
Ohno JAPAN/Hirofumi Ohno

Consultant(s):
Lighting: SWITCH

General contractor:
Taishin kensetsu

Photographer(s):
Iwan Baan

CAD system, project management, or other software used:
Vectorworks

  

Products

Structural system
Wooden structure

Exterior cladding
Wood: Eucalyptus t=36mm (Liebe: Eucalyptus Red gum)

Roofing
Wood: Red cedar t=24mm (Channel Original: Will Roof)

Windows
Wood frame: Wooden sash (Moros)

Metal frame: Aluminum skylight (R-Engineering)

Interior finishes
Demountable partitions: Wooden partitions (Lauan plywood)

Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Wooden closet (Lauan plywood)

Paints and stains: Oil stain

Paneling: Lauan Plywood t=3mm

Floor: Quartzite (ADVAN:ED-1355/Living,Lavatory)

Resilient flooring: SPF flooring (Study), Lauan plywood t=12mm (multi-layered/Bedroom)

Furnishings
Fixed seating: Lauan plywood

Energy
Energy management system: Electric heat pump, water heating and supply system(EcoCute)