Designer Keiji Ashizawa used muted tones to take advantage of the daylight on this condominium in central Tokyo, which options picket artwork items and furnishings that was specifically designed for the area.
For the Hiroo Residence, named after its location within the metropolis’s Hiroo neighbourhood, Ashizawa needed to underline the standard of the sunshine within the flat.
Within the open-plan kitchen and lounge, gentle streams in from a balcony, and the designer took benefit of this gentle supply by making a cut-out wall in order that the sunshine carries via to the hallway subsequent to it.
“I feel you possibly can see now we have a really good daylight right here,” he informed Dezeen throughout a walkthrough of the condominium. “So I did not wish to use white, as it might be too vibrant – as a substitute I used muted, refined tones.”
He additionally needed Hiroo Residence to really feel like a peaceable place to return dwelling to in a busy metropolis, utilizing pure supplies to create a relaxed atmosphere.
“Outdoors it is tremendous noisy however inside it’s extremely quiet, so I selected muted tones that additionally fuse with the supplies; the wooden and the stone,” Ashizawa mentioned.
The tranquil 200-square-metre condominium, which overlooks the Arisugawanomiya Memorial Park, has three bedrooms and two loos, in addition to a kitchen and eating space, a small workspace and loads of storage areas.
Earlier than designing the inside, Ashizawa modified the structure of the flat to make it extra open, taking out an present hallway to create an even bigger eating area.
“Our purpose was to design an area that may solely be created by meticulously crafting from the smallest element to the furnishings, leading to a quiet, comforting, and provoking environment with little noise, surrounded by pure supplies crafted with tactility,” Ashizawa mentioned of the design.
He labored with the Japanese picket furnishings firm Karimoku on the undertaking, which is the eighth in its Karimoku Case Research collection that sees it collaborate with architects on bespoke furnishings and inside initiatives.
Consequently, wooden was used all through Hiroo Residence, with white-stained oak masking most of the flooring.
Ashizawa additionally labored with Karimoku to create picket window frames and sliding doorways, which have been positioned all through the flat so as to add privateness with out taking over an excessive amount of area.
The furnishings matches the picket inside particulars and consists of two items created particularly for the undertaking – a sideboard with ornamental picket slats and a eating chair with a woven seat that was impressed by each Shaker designs and basic Scandinavian chairs.
Within the bed room of Hiroo Residence, picket wall panels add a tactile and extra pure really feel, which is echoed within the built-in cabinets and drawers within the en-suite walk-in closet.
Cupboards have been additionally used to cover completely different features within the kitchen, the place a big picket unit takes up a whole wall.
Even smaller particulars within the flat, such because the lengthy kitchen lamp, have been produced from the fabric.
Artworks in wooden by Danish artwork studio Atelier Plateau and the artist Sara Martinsen, which have been created particularly for the area, adorn the partitions.
Karimoku has labored with Ashizawa on various initiatives, together with its second showroom which simply opened in Kyoto, Japan, and the Azabu Residence Case Research, the place the designer referenced mid-century American design.
The pictures is by Tomooki Kengaku.