Japanese architects Kunihiko Matsuba and Seitaro Aso have renovated an apartment in Tokyo, pairing exposed structural elements with modern specifics .
The duo was asked to renovate the ground floor of a twenty-12 months-outdated duplex property in a residential region of Setagaya, a ward in Tokyo, where the consumer lives below his dad and mom.
The renovation involved removing a partition wall that previously separated the kitchen-diner and living spot, and also adding a tiny workspace that prospects into the bedroom.
“The elimination perform was minimum,” explained Matsuba, whose previous projects contain a house that bridges the flat rooftops of a dental clinic and garage.
“The primary thing that we eliminated was the partition wall in between the dining-kitchen and the living room – it grew to become functionally needless,” he said.
After taking out the partition wall, the wooden beams – or “two-by-4 members” – used inside of the building of the creating have been unveiled.
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“We intentionally kept these members exposed to demonstrate how previous this house is and the method of its building,” said Matsuba. “We wished to preserve the previously hidden history of the house noticeable in the interior space.”
Aiming to hold fees to a minimum, the architects opted to apply new flooring materials directly on top of the current tiles.
Wooden flooring in a herringbone pattern runs all through the open-strategy kitchen and living space, while large floor tiles were used in the extra workplace room. The walls were covered in plasterboard just before currently being painted white.
“In this project, we prevented removing the present finish where feasible,” stated Matsuba. “We utilized the new materials right onto the unique finish.”
Leaving structural aspects exposed is a common trend amongst Japanese house renovations. Other examples include an apartment that combines unfinished concrete and exposed plywood, and a loft where concrete beams are speckled by swathes of white paint.
Photography is by Tomoki Hirokawa.
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