To help this local community centre mix into its residential setting in Takamatsu, Japan, designer Yasunari Tsukada divided the building up into two residence-shaped blocks (+ slideshow).
The Sanjo Hokusei Neighborhood Centre is located in a densely constructed-up neighbourhood, so Osaka-based Tsukada made a decision to disguise the building’s size by splitting it between two smaller sized blocks.
The two volumes have a classic gabled form, permitting the creating to fit in with its residential neighbours.
Intentionally smaller sized than neighbouring houses, the two blocks each function a facade of grey metal cladding panels.
The greatest block is made up of a meeting hall, whilst the smaller sized a single houses a kitchen, toilet and store room, and they are are linked by a narrow glazed passageway.
Japanese firm Ryo Matsui Architects employed these same techniques in its design of a hairdressing salon with a glazed gable.
Relevant story: finish…Website link elegance salon by Yasunari Tsukada
“We divided the neighborhood centre into a “meeting area” and “other functions” so that we have a community centre that appears like two little homes up coming to every other, instead of possessing a single massive developing that would stand out as well a lot,” explained Tsukada.
“By separating, we had been able to downsize every developing and harmonise the buildings with their surroundings.”
The centre is accessed via a glass door situated amongst the two blocks – a attribute that assists to optimise the availability of normal light on the overlooked internet site.
The glazed entrance hall offers views through to a gravelled garden at the rear of the web site, and is intended to reference the pathways identified between neighbouring houses.
“The website inside the built-up town is surrounded by a amount of alleys,” explained the designer. “What we experimented with to do was to create the centre in the town, relevant to these alleys and homes.”
“The buildings have been deliberately made smaller than homes in their neighbourhood, which then designed room and alleys in the densely-built neighborhood.
The timber roof framework is left exposed across the interior of the meeting space, matching the wooden floorboards. Walls are painted white all through.
Huge windows encounter onto the garden courtyard, but facades dealing with neighbouring residences have smaller openings that are positioned large in the walls to steer clear of infringing on privacy.
Yasunari Tsukada, who established his Osaka design studio in 2012, previously overhauled a regional attractiveness salon with latticed timber work-stations and extra a mezzanine floor to a bright white home in Takamatsu.
Photography is by Takumi Ota.
Floor plan – click for bigger image 
Cross part – click for bigger image 
Prolonged segment – click for greater picture 
