Daita Apartment Building, Setagaya Real Estate, western Tokyo Homes, Japanese Housing Architecture Photos

Daita Apartment Building in Setagaya, Tokyo

6 Jun 2021

Daita Apartment Building

Architect: Ryuichi Sasaki / Sasaki Architecture

Location: Setagaya, western Tokyo, Japan

The Daita Apartment Building is a 16-unit rental housing complex in a quiet residential area off the main road in Setagaya, western Tokyo. A hilly area facing a road off the main road. The area around the site is dotted with mansion forests.

There is a height difference of more than 2 meters within the site, and the road facing the site also has a height difference at both ends of the site.　

It is a residential area and there is a restriction on the height diagonal. The size of the site is such that greenery is required by ordinance.
In consideration of the quiet surrounding environment with abundant vegetation neighborhood, the exterior of the building was required to have the characteristics of the surrounding environment and to appeal as a façade.

The building is composed of two complex structures: a group of units directly facing the street, and a walkway through the site that leads to the entrance of the apartment building. While ascending the stairs that lead directly from the road, the plantings on the walls, the kicking plants, and the green accent color on the walls give the building a natural feel.

When you reach the top of the road, you will find a place that is cut off from the surrounding environment as an L-shaped forest-like area.
For the facade, We arranged green colored stainless steel around the openings of the fair-faced concrete, so that the form of the surrounding environment emerges vividly as if we are aware of its existence on a daily basis.

The slabs of the three units spans along the street have different heights, and the studio units above them have different heights.
The unit on the west side of the back of the site is a 1 bedroom unit with three spans of the terraced slab, which is a stepped living room that maintains the connection between the space and the external landscape from different heights. The living room, dining room, and bedroom can be changed according to each resident’s spatial relationship.

These terraced slabs are also developed in the common corridor where the stairwells are located so that the residents can feel the change of the landscape according to the height on a daily basis.

The units that are affected by the elevation oblique line on the north side of the building have sloping surfaces and high-side lights with a high ceiling height, and some units have a counter living room with a long counter.

The units range from studio to maisonette type, and the combination of floors and ceiling surfaces with slightly different heights, as well as the direction of the wall slope due to the slope of the roof, gradually changes, so that you can enjoy a variety of views of the space and the way light and wind enter.

What were the key challenges?
The slabs of the three-unit spans along the street have different heights, and the studio units above them have different heights.
The unit on the west side of the back of the site is a one-bedroom unit with three spans of the terraced slab, which is a stepped living room that maintains the connection between the space and the external landscape from different heights. The living room, dining room, and bedroom can be changed according to each resident’s spatial relationship.

Key products used:
For the facade, I arranged green-colored stainless steel around the openings of the fair-faced concrete, so that the form of the surrounding environment emerges vividly as if we are aware of its existence on a daily basis.

Daita Apartment Building in Setagaya, Japan – Building Information

Lead Architects: Sasaki Architecture

Lead Architect: Ryuichi Sasaki/Sasaki Architecture
Architecture Team: Gen Kagurazaka, Anna Kwapien, Yuriko Ogura, Cecile Brissez/Sasaki Architecture
Structure: Kazuki Takano/Atelier La Cle
Client: Kenji Miumi
Color Stainless Polish: Shinko Stainless Polishing
Light: Natsuha Kameoka/Lighting Sou
Furniture: Takako Ueno/T Style Design
Site Area:267.93m2
Building Area 535.93m2
Structure: Reinforced Concrete
Construction Schedule: October 2017 to March 2019

Project size: 535 m2
Site size: 267 m2
Completion date: 2019
Building levels: 4

Award/Prize
LEAF AWARDS 2019, Shortlist (Europe)
German Design Award 2020, Winner (Germany)
Iconic Awards 2019, Winner (Germany)
Architecture Master Prize 2019, Honorable Mention (USA)