An austere exterior of stacked concrete volumes conceals a double-height courtyard and plant-filled terrace at the heart of this home in Tokyo, designed by local studio Apollo Architects & Associates.
Named Eternity, the home’s setting at the corner of two roads in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward informed its dark, enclosed exterior of stacked rectilinear volumes, finished in board-marked concrete with mirrored glass windows.
Inside, this is contrasted by fully-glazed living spaces that surround a central terrace and courtyard, pulling light into a stone-clad basement games room that was designed to feel “carved out of rock.”
“Designed with the security and privacy typical of a quiet residential neighbourhood in mind, the building features a closed exterior design that minimises openings,” Satoshi Kurosaki, principal architect at Apollo Architects & Associates, told Dezeen.
“The courtyard-style residence is centred around a sunken courtyard, achieving an open interior space that contrasts with the building’s closed-off exterior and allows residents to experience nature from the comfort of their own home,” he added.
The stacked volumes of the home’s exterior have been given alternating finishes of thin stone tiles and exposed concrete that was cast in cedar formwork, with the largest volume extending to the north to shelter the entrance and garage.
A narrow entrance porch leads into a large L-shaped gallery, lounge and wine cellar, lined by full-height glazing that is level with the canopy of a tree planted in the courtyard below.
Eternity’s double-height living, dining and kitchen area has been elevated to the first floor, where it sits beneath a sloping ceiling clad in ribbed walnut panels and flanked by glass on either side.
Sliding glass doors open out onto an expansive, open-air terrace, overlooking the sunken courtyard and wrapped by a planter of trees beneath a sloping glass canopy.
To the west, the home’s bedrooms occupy a skinny block overlooking the terrace, while a studio space at the opposite end of the second floor looks down on the large living, dining and kitchen area.
The stone-walled basement was designed as a hospitality space for guests that is accessible via its own dedicated entrance, with game areas including a billiards room and virtual golf range alongside a kitchen and karaoke booth.
Kurosaki founded Apollo Architects & Associates in Tokyo in 2000.
The studio took a similar approach for another home it designed on a corner site in Ota Ward, for which it created a stack of grey and black volumes, and has also created a multi-generational home with a walled-in garden.
The photography is courtesy of Apollo Architects & Associates.
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