Hasta La Ideas

Japanese architects Takeshi Hosaka have completed this office building in the Tokyo suburb of Yoyogi.

Located in a low rise, high density area, the Yoyogi Office Building is clad in white glass-fibre reinforced concrete panels.

Earthquake-resistant structures are hidden within a staircase and service core on the north side of the building, leaving each floor with an open plan to be divided up by tenants as necessary.

Strips of hand sand-blasted glazing round the top of each storey allow walls to be used for storage space, while eight full-height opening windows provide views over the surrounding garden and neighbourhood.

An apartment for the owner of the building is located on the top floor.

More about Takeshi Hosaka on Dezeen »

More Japanese architecture on Dezeen »

Photographs are by Koji Fujii/Nacasa & Partners

The following is from the architect:

Office Building in Yoyogi

This office building faces Minami-Shinjuku Station. In this district, a dense cluster of low-rise residences and mid-size buildings constitutes a traditional neighborhood, with skyscrapers standing a little distance away. To me, this site conjured up an image of a valley consisting of swarms of building masses.

I wanted to make the rental office building, which would be constructed on this site, blend in naturally with the surrounding environment. On its premises, the building has a square-shaped garden measuring 15 m on each side.

As for the floor planning, I realized an expansive construction with no visible earthquake-proof elements around the circumference by placing quake-resistant structures including a staircase, plumbing and other piping spaces to the north end. With one or two companies scheduled to occupy each floor, I prepared five different positions for partitions in order to accommodate tenants with varying sizes.

Taking into consideration the fact that many objects would be placed on the wall sides of small rental offices, I constructed the basic façade structure so that the walls would measure 180 mm above the floors, with the high-side structure being double-skin glass.

Furthermore, in consideration of the positional relationship with its perimeter and ventilation paths, the building provides eight vertical glass windows extending between the first and third floors.

The high-side glass was unevenly sandblasted through manual labor, thereby creating irregular texture with a cloudy/hazy touch. This generates a perspective that makes the neighboring buildings look a little more distant than they really are on the crowded premises, in addition to letting in the offices soft diffused light converted from direct sunlight. Moreover, through the uneven sandblasted glass, the weather and views outside appear slightly different from their usual selves.

This offers curious enjoyment indoors, loosely connecting the indoors and outdoors. Having the vertical glass windows extending from the first floor to third floor means that they stretch from the floor to the ceiling, thus enabling sufficient natural ventilation and an air-conditioner-free office environment in the middle period.

The white surface on the façade is a GRC panel. Overshadowed by a valley of buildings, the premises and their vicinity are dark. Therefore, I attempted to lighten up the surrounding by adding a white surface. In addition to trees passed down from the generation before last, the garden is planted with as many plants as possible to provide much greenery. Also, the ground outside is left unpaved as much as possible, with earthy surfaces reintroduced, in an attempt to pursue pleasant coexistence with soil and plants even in the urban area.

For small office buildings in metropolitan areas, it is a common practice to construct homogeneous and functional buildings that place priority on efficiency based on the economic principle. However, I believe that it is high time for us to think about building novel office structures as places where people can harmonize with environment based on a mixture of themes such as a new relationship between the outdoors and indoors, while still maintaining efficiency and functionality.

Through attempts that could be made on the premises such as setting aside a little space for plantation, securing earthy grounds, and applying uneven sandblast on glass surfaces, I tried to give birth to an office building with a varying degree of environmental latitude as a place where people stay instead of an artificially-controlled homogeneous construction.

Building Details

Architect: Takeshi Hosaka
Structural Engineers: Hirofumi Ohno
Photographer: Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Pertners Inc.

Client: Masanori Yoshida
Name: Yoyogi Office Building
Location: Yoyogi, Tokyo, Japan

Structure: Steel
Site: 398.88 m2
Building area: 209.13 m2
Floor area ratio: 635.69 m2
Building height: 9991mm
No. of floors: 3F
Building function: Office Building + Owner’s House

Architect Details

(Name) Takeshi Hosaka
Takeshi Hosaka Architects

Planning data
Design: March 2008 – Feb. 2009
Planning start: March  /  2008
Beginning of construction: April   /  2010
Completion: December / 2010

See also:

.

Hoto Fudo by Takeshi Hosaka Architects	Inside Out by Takeshi Hosaka Architects	More Offices on Dezeen

Des illustrations très impressionnantes par l’artiste Sagaki Keita basé et vivant à Tokyo. Ces oeuvres sont composés de milliers de personnages et de dessins en tout genre, formant alors une image principale. L’ensemble de ses travaux sont à découvrir dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• SmokeWorks
• House with Slide
• Yoshimasa Tsuchiya

Copyright Fubiz™ – Suivez nous sur Twitter et Facebook

Japanese studio Level Architecs have completed a house in Tokyo, Japan, with a slide connecting all three floors.

A staircase wraps around one side of the rectangular house and the slide encircles the other.

Above photograph is courtesy of the architects

Occupants can decide at each level whether to descend by the stairs or by slide.

The living areas are located on the first floor and lead out to a double-height terrace, which also doubles up as a ball pen for children to play in.

A bedroom and bathroom are located on the top floor and a Japanese-style room and home office can be found at ground level.

Photographs are by Shinichi Tanaka unless otherwise stated.

More Japanese houses on Dezeen »
More residential architecture on Dezeen »

Here’s some information from the architects:

House in Nakameguro – “House with SLIDE”

It was the client’s desire. “I want to create the house to which three children remain in memories forever.” he said too.

For this family, “SLIDE” will be a symbol felt deeply.

We considered the possibility building its play space into the space of daily life naturally at the same time as thinking about “SLIDE”.

Above photograph is courtesy of the architects

We decided to be thought that it became no “House with SLIDE” it and “House of SLIDE” by it did not catch as mere “Play equipment” that along the stairs sideward of “SLIDE” like the slope, and set up in a part of the open ceiling and used it but building it in the entire construction.

They goes up from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor by “Stairs” according to outer in the house, and they descends from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor by “SLIDE”.

In all circumference in the house become big “SLIDE”, and the plan became the entire design as it is.

The rounded wall makes feel to enclose with “Stairs” and “SLIDE” in living room and dinning room and kitchen of the 2nd floor more.

Fixtures sofa with height of 6-meters gives the unity of sense to living room and dinning room and kitchen, and the subdued light from the courtyard at the center of the room pours into the room through the grating deck.

In the bedroom of the 3rd floor, daring to partition it doesn’t do, and be entire family’s bedroom now.

A soft shadow is cast on the inside and outside part because the entire house are roundness all, and externals that wear roundness are lovely houses where people happens to pass stops their foot.

Click for larger image

When this house was visited one month after the completion, “SLIDE” was relieved in daily life.

Click for larger image

In addition we saw children reverse-running.

Click for larger image

It was “House of SLIDE” that had already exceeded our imagination.

Click for larger image

DATA:

Location / Tokyo, Japan
Site area / 109.82m2

Click for larger image

Total floor area / 163.69m2
Structure / wood

Click for larger image

Floor number / 3 stories
Completion / 2009

Click for larger image

See also:

.

Playhouse by Aboday	MR Design Office by Schemata Architecture Office	House in Fukawa by Suppose Design Office

A slide is hidden behind the mirrored wall in this Tokyo office by Japanese studio Schemata Architecture Office.

The shoot can be accessed by climbing a ladder up to the top of the bathroom and storage area.

The office is intended for just five people and features a reflective dome, 3.4metres in diameter, which hangs from the ceiling over a meeting area to project light and contain sound.

A mirrored wall at one end of the rectangular office makes the space appear larger.

Photographs are by Takumi Ota.

More office interiors on Dezeen »
All our stories on Schemata Architectue Office »

Here’s a bit of text from the architects:

MR_DESIGN OFFICE

I planned about 190 square meters office only for 5 people. I designed only 2 kind of parts, furniture and infrastructure not to separate a large room into some small room.

So you can feel 190 square meters in any places in this office.

And it’s notable that the lighting with 3.4m parabolic reflector can reflect not only the light but also sound. So this meeting space doesn’t need any partition.

The Lighting for The Meeting Room

I duplicate bright natural light from metal halide lighting system. And the lighting system can make no shadow.

Because parabolic reflector can make diffuse reflection. And parabolic reflector can increase the voice between each separate seats only under the reflector.

Bench

We convert from 4 chairs into 1 bench. The each leg of a bench is transparent because of made of epoxy resin.

Base Lighting System

We made the base lighting system by spliting a spiral tube in two. Because we want to match the reflectors to other ductworks ceiling.

Site: Shibuya ward Tokyo
Principal use: Office
Structure: RC
Floor area: 188.20m²

Construction: Eiger
Furniture: E&Y Epoxy Syuhei Nakamura
Technical cooperation: Izumi Okayasu
Completion: Jun.2010

See also:

.

Playhouse by Aboday	Cheap Monday Office by Uglycute	Living Lab by Ab Rogers for Pizza Express

Japanese studio Apollo Architects & Associates have completed a house in Tokyo, Japan, featuring a white rendered volume sitting on top of a concrete base and no exterior windows.

Called Shift, the house has been built around a central courtyard where glazed walls provide views into all of the interior spaces on both floors.

On the ground floor, the living room and kitchen are located on either side of the courtyard.

There are three bedrooms on the first floor, each with their own balcony and little garden.

Also on this floor is a yoga room, bathroom and workroom, all of which have views of the internal courtyard.

Photographs are by Masao Nishikawa.

More residential architecture on Dezeen »

The information that follows is from the architects:

SHIFT

Surrounding the site in the outskirts of Tokyo is lush green and a slow-paced environment. The building was commissioned by a family composed of the husband who manages an insurance company, the wife who works as a patternmaker and their two children. It was planned as a SOHO, with a space for the yoga classes run by the wife added to the house.

The distinguishing exterior consists of a wooden volume covered with a luminescent wall sitting on top of a base made of exposed concrete engrained with the texture of Japanese cedar. In sharp contrast to the exterior that is closed to the outside world, an inner courtyard pierces the center of the structure.

With a hollow center, the house is easy walk around and allows for the presence of family members to be felt from anywhere. The symbolic tree in the courtyard plays a central role in sustaining the equilibrium of the architecture.

On the ground floor, the living room and dining kitchen face each other across the courtyard while a sculptural staircase is positioned across the courtyard from the entrance. The staircase is symbolic in its presence and gives expansiveness to the spaces together with the courtyard.

On the first floor, the multi-purpose room is used for yoga classes and for other activities, while small gardens are positioned around bedrooms providing light and openings.

Incorporating an open-air garden within it, the house makes it possible to fully enjoy the Japanese four seasons. The contrast between the external and the internal will help to keep a fresh mind in everyday life.

Credit Information
Architecture : Satoshi Kurosaki/APOLLO Architects & Associates

Project Outline
Location : Tokyo
Date of Completion : April 2010
Principal Use : Private House
Structure : RC/1F,Wooden/2F
Site Area: 257.54m2

Click for larger image

Total Floor Area : 180.20m2 (99.37m2/1F, 80.83m2/2F)
Design Period : March 2009 – July 2009
Construction Period : October 2009 – April 2010
Structural Engineer : Kenta Masaki
Mechanical Engineer :-

Material Information
Exterior Finish : Exposed concrete/1F, photocatalytic paint/2F
Floor : Flooring
Wall : photocatalytic paint
Ceiling : cloth

See also:

.

Damier by Apollo Architects & Associates	Flow by Apollo Architects & Associates	More architecture on Dezeen