This stunning architectural design began as a renovation of a 19-year old apartment in Minami-Ikebukuro, a convenient and busy area of Tokyo, closely located to one of Japan's busiest terminal stations.

Designed by Tomohiko Iida, Norifumi Watanabe and Hidetoshi Sawa of Tailored Design Lab, the apartment is owned by a young career couple that wanted their home to a space perfect for relaxation to balance their busy lifestyle.

Source: Tailored Design Lab

Originally, the apartment had several large windows facing north, south and east. Rare for a central Tokyo property, the architects wanted to preserve the city and Mount Fuji views, while maximising the breeze and natural light.

Despite these amazing windows, the architects reveal that the walls also held items that they wanted to hide, such as air conditioning units and beams.

Source: Tailored Design Lab

To combat this issue, the design team installed a drape-like wall inside the existing building and made an "Alcove" which became the spaces for the apartment's bedrooms and kitchen.

Then, to create zones within the apartment openings were added to the drape wall. The Proscenium arch was created to dramatise the everyday action of walking through to the living room, to the "Alcove."

Source: Tailored Design Lab

Doing this gave the architects the ability to maintain a sense of unity throughout the whole design, while still being able to individualise the apartments other spaces.

The inner side of the drape wall - the inside of the "Alcove" - comprises the central living spaces of the apartment: the kitchen, workspace and bedrooms.

The various openings and archways of the drape wall draw natural light from the outside into the heart of the "Alcove" creating bursts of sunlight that spread the rich wall colour across the apartment.

Source: Tailored Design Lab

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