Renovation of a vintage mansion

｜DATA

• Design: Hirotaka Sato
• Site: Minato Ward, Tokyo
• Use: Residential
• Structure: renovation
• Land area: 8810.23 sqm
• Renovation area: 121.36 sqm
• Equipment: Yutaka Murase (advice)
• Construction: Honma Construction
• Photo: Hirotaka Sato

｜AWARDS

• 22nd Spatial Design Competition

｜CONCEPT

Skeleton renovation of a vintage apartment in Minato Ward. The original building was designed by the same Kajima Corporation design team that designed the Kasumigaseki Building, and is Japan's first high-rise condominium.

During the renovation, we tried to maximize the goodness of the original architecture.

First of all, we changed the layout of the water area so that when you enter the entrance, you can feel the light of the living room through the glass block in front of you. The corridor is also a space that has a soft connection with the living room by using glass blocks. Half-size glass blocks are inserted randomly to avoid monotony and stiffness.
In addition, mirrors are effectively used for the corner pillars and the end of the hallway to enhance the sense of openness and continuity.

Italian stucco is used for the walls of the living room and hallway, and Ariake shellfish ash plaster is used for the ceiling and the walls of the private rooms in consideration of the indoor environment.
The furniture uses solid walnut and combines it with corten steel to pursue texture and sharpness.

Many of these vintage apartments have old equipment systems. This condominium is also required to have an air conditioning system using a water-cooled industrial chiller. However, there are various problems when it is used in such ordinary homes. In this case, we installed a ground source heat pump, which is a household product, and experimentally adopted a cooling system that uses cooling water from a cooling tower instead of geothermal heat as a heat source. The use of geothermal heat pumps in individual renovations of condominiums is probably a unique example of its kind in the world.
In order to increase the effect of air conditioning, the insulation of the living room has also been improved. All the glass has been replaced with vacuum glass that allows the existing sashes to be used as they are, improving the environmental performance without impairing the openness.

The bedboards in the entrance and master bedroom are made from rare Italian wood skin veneers that were used at the entrance of the existing dwelling unit, and other valuable materials such as Italian marble were reused without wasting them. .
Not only the design, but also the proposal that extends to the energy that is not bound by the rule book, and the reuse of old materials are unique to the renovation handled by the architect.