Apollo Architects & Associates named this Tokyo property right after Noah’s Ark simply because it characteristics a symmetrical floor plan and a pointed wooden roof.
Positioned west of the the Japanese capital in Mitaka, the two-storey Ark home supplies a house for a couple who work at a nearby university, and their two young children.
Like a lot of Japanese house owners, the customers desired a residence that provides them each privacy and a connection to the outside. But they also requested separate quarters, making it possible for them to invest some of their time alone.
In response, Apollo Architects & Associates planned a residence with an nearly totally symmetrical layout. This created it feasible to create a pair of independent libraries on the ground floor, as well as two matching children’s rooms upstairs.
There are also two courtyards, so each room in the creating faces out onto a private outside room. Apollo employed a comparable tactic on a house for a surgeon in Chiba and a home for a surfer in Kanagawa.
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In accordance to architect and studio founder Satoshi Kurosaki, the symmetry produces a “distinct formality, like a church”.
“A courtyard and a front yard are placed on the south and the north, and spaces are located symmetrically [about them],” he explained. “Our intention is to provide a living surroundings exactly where one particular can feel the air outside from everywhere in the residence.”
“Every single area is filled with soft light from the courtyard, and family members can truly feel each and every other’s presence although concentrating on their operates or research,” he extra.
From the street, the house appears to have a rectilinear type since of the wall suspended around the front yard to create the initial of the two courtyards. But it actually has a pitched roof that creates angled ceilings for rooms on the 1st floor.
Like an additional of Apollo’s latest projects, a Canadian softwood referred to as SPF offers the roof’s structure. The beams are organized in pairs, meant to generate a “daring rhythm”.
“The name Ark comes from the type of the constructing, and its association with Noah’s Ark,” said Kurosaki, referring to the legendary boat from the bible.
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The beams are visible in the open-strategy area that functions as a living room, dining room and kitchen. Matching Lauan plywood was used for furniture and shelving, which are developed into the walls on each sides of the space.
The second of the two courtyards is situated past the living room, and has an ash tree at its centre. The two children’s bedrooms each open out to a balcony positioned above the courtyard, where a spiral staircase leads up onto the roof.
The master bedroom is positioned on the ground floor, along with the bathrooms and additional storage places.
Oak flooring runs all through the house. Other details include a staircase of cantilevered wooden blocks, and a gridded bookshelf suspended overhead.
The property was completed in Might 2015 and has an total floor spot of 102 square metres.
Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.
Undertaking credits:
Architecture: Apollo Architects & Associates – Satoshi Kurosaki
Structural engineer: Masaki Framework – Kenta Masaki
Mechanical engineer: Naoki Matsumoto
Lighting design: Sirius Lighting Office
Ground floor plan – click for greater image 
1st floor plan – click for greater picture 
Roof strategy – click for bigger picture 
Cross part one – click for bigger image 
Cross part two – click for bigger image 
Lengthy part one particular – click for greater picture 
Extended segment two – click for more substantial image 
