Akio Nakasa / Naf Architect & Design

E-2 is a project of two-story duplex apartment with open roof garden. The owner of E-2 is the same as “A-1” which was completed in 2016 in adjacent land, thus this projected started by framing the relation between E-2 and A-1 in surrounding environment such as adjacent houses and frontal road.

Being property for rent, sufficient floor area to yield profit was secured for the apartment while the height of the building was reduced to two stories so as not to block sunlight or view of neighbors. Open garden on the roof is designed on the same level as the third floor of “A-1”, which is the residence of the owner. This hanging garden which changes landscape by the seasons can be enjoyed from the owner’s windows as well as those of neighbors.

The project consists of three volumes / households, all duplex apartments, which stand next to each other in between interspace called “gray zones”. Three volumes, slightly smaller than compact houses in the neighbor, hold up the open garden roof. As they stand very close to adjacent houses, windows facing outward are of minimum necessary size made by patterned glass. Siding similar to the ones used for walls of neighboring houses is selected for exterior finishing to give a dry expression. Gray zones serve as traffic lines and balconies, and windows facing inward are of maximum size with transparent glass which conduct light indirectly inside three volumes while securing privacy. The selection of materials, space composition and rules for openings follow the patterns in “A-1”.

Residential land development in this area is said to have started around ninety years ago at the turn of Eras from Taisho to Showa. It has maintained quiet living environment with abundant green within residences, but as large houses are dismantled to make raw land which is segmented into densely populated smaller lots, greenery is gradually disappearing. One of the reasons for diminishing greenery is that Urban Greenery Act is only applied to lots larger than certain standard and not to smaller houses in subdivided lots.

Local NPO has been active for more than twenty years working on maintaining living environment by producing green map. Some people, like the owner of “E-2” and “A-1”, is working under policy that residents contribute in their capacity to sustain greenery in grass-root activity rather than depending on administration.

The premises area of “E-2” and “A-1” combined is 280.51 sqm, gloss floor area 426.70 sqm, and households are 7. Two-meter wide interspace between two projects stretches from frontal road to the back of the premises like narrow passage, serving as approach to all the households. The passage does not enjoy good sunshine but arranging shade-tolerant plants such as maple trees and ferns gave this open space contrasting feature compared to roof garden.

Sometime after the completion of “E-2”, the owner noticed a change in the windows of neighbors, whose roll-up screens had usually been closed down. The roll-up screens are now up and house plants can be seen by the windows as if they are echoing with presence of plants in the roof garden. It may be a small change, but it did us proud as it shows that our design intention has reached the neighbors.

– Akio Nakasa –