Tokyo Clinic and Office Building, Japan Building Development, Japanese Architecture

Clinic and Office Building, Tokyo

Akishima-shi Building Development, Japan – design by htmn

12 Jun 2013

Clinic and Office Building in Tokyo

Design: architectural office “htmn”

photograph © Daici Ano

Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo, Japan

Narrow architecture in Tokyo

‘Everybody finds somebody someplace’

This is a clinic and office building complex in Japan, completed recently.

Everybody finds somebody someplace.

photos © Daici Ano

Overview of the site

Many buildings stand side by side in the shopping district near the train station. There were many partitioned tenement-houses in this area, but currently rebuilding has been proceeding. There is a platform of the conventional lines on the north side of the site. And there is a municipal road that is parallel to the line on the south side of the site. This is a narrow site is surrounded by buildings which was built to site boundary close, on the east and west side. We designed the building in this narrow site.

Behavior of the architecture

The floor area of the building is small, and so we came up with various ideas to make it more spacious than actual area. The closed space, it is necessary to actively open to the outside in order to obtain an extension. We have planned to go through the line of sight towards the upward in a positive manner, because the north and south direction has a void on the upper side. The activities inside the building are opened to the road on the south side, and it will be integrated with the landscape of the region. By placing the terrace on the third and fourth floors, we have planned to get a sense of openness while blocking gently to the line of sight from the station platform on the north side. You can view the sky through the building, which means we have contributed to the reduction of the oppressive feeling of the volume against the surroundings.

Intertwined extension

The second floor (office room A) and the third floor (office room C) has been connected by an atrium, and the same applies to the second floor (office room B) and the fourth floor (office room D). Each of these rooms is related with a suitable distance. The office portion has been composed of two volumes that led to the gradual multi-layer floor. The two volumes have been intertwined. By contiguous space and segmented space, you can perceive that the multiple locations are scattered while staying in one place. We have planned for multiple line of flow to pass between the volume, outside the corridor on the second floor and middle of a spiral staircase. The room and the room, the volume and the volume, the line of flow and the line of flow, by these has been intertwined intricately, the space attains expanse over the actual area.

Adjustable

The rental office must be able to use to adjustable in response to a variety of applications. The portion of the office can be rented together or divided into two. Even if the case, the volume provides a expressive spaces because it is composed of layers floor.

Sustainability

We plan to make Piping efficient, by integrating plumbing into the second floor. The client requested to maximize the first floor and floor area ratio. And the outer wall has been forced to close at hand the site boundary. Because buildings has built to site boundary close, on the east and west side, the maintenance of the outer wall is difficult after completion. Then the outer wall has adopted a weatherproof building material. And a part of the outer walls were set-backed for maintenance.

Hiroaki Takada + Masayuki Nakahata / htmn

images : htmn

Everybody finds somebody someplace – Building Information

Title: Everybody finds somebody someplace
Architect: Hiroaki Takada + Nakahata Masayuki / htmn
Structure design: Ryo Kuwako / Kuwako Architects and Engineers
Client: private
Use: clinic + office
Location: akishima-shi, Tokyo
Struture: steel
Site area: 39.80 sqm
Building area: 29.24 sqm
Total floor area: 79.29 sqm
Design period: Apr 2010-Feb 2012
Construction period: Feb 2012-Nov 2012

htmn are based in Nishiwaseda Shinjyuku-ku Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Clinic and Office Building images / information from htmn

htmn

Location: Tokyo, Japan