Architects Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein reproduced the red logo in lacquered ceramic to tile the walls of the reception. The tiles continue through to a lounge and a kitchen area, gradually fading to pink and then white.

"Clear branding is everything in the trillon-clip video landscape we live and surf," Dytham told Dezeen. "It is seems to work; Time magazine uses the wall in their news articles about YouTube globally!"

In some places the shape is also used to create wooden box shelves, while elsewhere it provides the framework for a wall of black and white photographs.

Located in the KPF-designed Mori Tower, YouTube Space Tokyo is the company's third video production suite to open, following others in London and Los Angeles, and it contains filming studios, editing rooms, training areas and lounges.

The main studio is arranged in front of a large window, allowing a skyline view as a backdrop for filming. Other features include a long curtain that can be used to partition spaces and modular sofas that can be reconfigured for different formats.

Dytham explains that the biggest challenge was fitting studio lighting into the ceiling heights of a typical office floor. "By locating the studios in areas of the floor plan with the least amount of air-conditioning ducting we could make them work in standard floor to floor heights," he explained.

Klein Dytham Architecture also recently completed a Tokyo bookstore that, like the YouTube Space, uses the logo of the brand for the pattern on its walls. Dytham discusses this project in an interview we filmed at the World Architecture Festival.

See more architecture by Klein Dytham »
See more new projects in Tokyo »

Read on for more details from Klein Dytham Architecture:

Klein Dytham architecture
YouTube Space Tokyo

Klein Dytham architecture's (KDa) project has its origins in a global act of generosity. YouTube has created YouTube Space Tokyo that provides free facilities for the use of their top video producers in Asia. Including studios, production suites, training areas, and lounges, the Tokyo center is one of a number of similar facilities YouTube are creating around the world – others are in London and Los Angeles. YouTube's goal was to create a kind of 'collaborative production facility', providing both training and production support to help their most energetic producers elevate their videos to a fully professional level.

KDa's unique interior project is located high in the Mori Tower in central Tokyo. On entering, the visitors encounter a visually striking wall of red panels derived from the YouTube's iconic logo – the logo is three-dimensionalized, cast in lightweight ceramic and lacquered. Serving to orient visitors to the facility, the logos fade from bright red in the reception area to pink in the lounge to white in the café and kitchen area.

Around this KDa have arranged production studios, an audio recording space, a green screen studio, control rooms, an editing suite, a make-up room, green rooms, a VIP space, a café, and a large training room for seminars and learning software. All of the spaces – not just the studios – have been designed to allow shooting. The variety of wall surfaces, carpet shades, and ceiling configurations is intended to provide a wide range of settings. One wall serves as a 'Hall of Fame' showing images of the top producers. A super-long curtain – made from fabric by famed Tokyo manufacturers, Nuno – snakes through the interior allowing flexible division of the space. A custom-designed sofa can be rearranged to suit a variety of formats – panels, interviews, and so on. The space has also been arranged to maximize the use of the skyline view, including the iconic Tokyo Tower, as a shooting backdrop.

The project is remarkable in squeezing fully equipped production studios into a standard office floor. In the past, production studios required high ceilings to prevent the hot lighting rigs literally cooking performers. Modern LED lights, however, are cool and can be used in the space offered by high-rise office floors. KDa still needed to overcome considerable technical challenges, which they achieved in part by carefully placing the studios in areas of the floor relatively free of ducting and thereby gaining extra ceiling height.

The post YouTube Space Tokyo by
Klein Dytham Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Located in the Motoazabu area of the city, the apartment block has a rectilinear concrete structure that at a glance could be mistaken for an office building or car park.

"What we aimed to do with this structure was to create something that would blend with its surroundings and maintain absolute simplicity," explains architect Kiyonobu Nakagame.

Four diagonal supports raise the structure off the ground and create a sheltered car park on the lowest floor, while stairs climb the side of the building to lead into apartments on the first and second storeys.

Both residences have similar layouts, with kitchen worktops lining one wall and glazed bathrooms on the opposite side.

The diagonal step in the floor runs through the centre of each apartment, separating the kitchen and dining zones from the bedroom and study areas, while the staggered ceilings cut across them in the opposite direction.

Other concrete apartment blocks we've featured from Japan include a building with boxy balconies in Kyoto and one with indoor balconies in Tokyo. See more architecture in Japan.

Photography is by Shigeo Ogawa.

Here are a few words from Kiyonobu Nakagame:

Motoazabu Apartment sYms

Once known as a high-class residential area, Motoazabu is developing into more of a modern diversified metropolitan region resultant of the economic boom.

The neighborhood consists of skyscrapers like the famous Roppongi Hills development alongside smaller just as unique small developments. But within the chaotic big city life of this area you can still find tranquil quietness.

Above: concept diagram

What we aimed to do with this structure was to create something that would blend with its surroundings and maintain absolute simplicity. The true character of the building can be found on the inside. A structure consisting of four corner columns with a footprint of 6.8m x 7.8m comprising one room.

Above: ground floor plan

The design concept takes in a diagonal line of 450mm in room level difference which lends itself to create four distinct living areas all within a single space. The two different elevations of the floor combined with the two different ceiling heights lends itself to create four distinct living areas all within a single space.

Above: first floor plan

The office and living area take up the stage with views of the city and the bedroom space surrounded by post beams provides openness and a sense of privacy to modern city life in one room.

Design: 2011.01-2011.09
Construction period: 2011.10-2012.06

Above: section A

Structure: Reinforced Concrete
Number of floors: 3

Above: section B

The post Motoazabu Apartment sYms by
Kiyonobu Nakagame Architect & Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Named ST-House, the three-storey building was designed by PANDA to mimic the profiles of its neighbours, as required by local planning regulations. This created a steeply pitching roof on the north side and a right-angled volume to the south.

The single-storey concrete wall borders the site on every side, creating a partially-enclosed terrace surrounding the ground-floor living and dining room.

"By placing concrete block fence along the site border we create semi-interior zone between the walls and the house, so that the interior space is visually extended to the full extent of the site," explains architect Kozo Yamamoto.

A narrow window stretches up on one side of the facade, revealing the position of a steel staircase leading up to a bathroom and study on the first floor, then a bedroom on the second floor.

Clerestory windows bring light into the top floor from the highest section of the walls, while at ground level glazing skirts the base of the building so that it is screened behind the outer wall.

"We want to provide various conditions of light on each floor," says Yamamoto.

The house was constructed with a timber frame, while the facade is coated with a clean white render.

Japanese studio PANDA also recently completed NN-House, a little house with a triangular courtyard and an L-shaped roof terrace behind its walls.

See more Japanese houses on Dezeen, including a house that lets light in through the roof.

Photography is by Hiroyuki Hirai.

Read on for more information from PANDA:

ST-House

This small three-storey house is built on a 40m2 lot located in a residential district, which is a few minutes walk from the main road. It is a densely built-up area with small two- or three-storey houses, representing a common living condition in Tokyo.

Therefore our client's request reflected common demands of urban residents: they wanted living space that is 'closed' for security and privacy, but also 'open and bright' with sufficient natural light inside.

Due to limited budget and modest lifestyle, the house is a simple three-storey house of wood construction, with each floor accommodating different function. Building height and ceiling heights are automatically determined by north side slant line regulation.

We intend to create a sense of spaciousness in this small volume. In order to maximize the verticality we provide living/dining/kitchen space adjacent to stairway on the ground floor, so that they can experience the full height of the volume from there. By placing concrete block fence along the site border we create semi-interior zone between the walls and the house, so that the interior space is visually extended to the full extent of the site.

We also want to provide various conditions of light on each floor. On the ground floor the entire space is illuminated with indirect light coming from above through the semi-interior zone and stairway, creating soft and diffused effect like artificial lighting. On the contrary they can enjoy direct natural light coming in from windows on the second and third floors.

Architects: PANDA
Architect In Charge: Kozo Yamamoto
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Structural Engineer: a・s・t atelier
Contractor: AZ Construction
Total Floor Area: 62.14 sqm
Building Area: 24.08sqm
Year: 2013

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

Above: first floor plan - click for larger image

Above: second floor plan - click for larger image

Above: roof plan - click for larger image

Above: section A - click for larger image

Above: section B - click for larger image

The post ST-House by
PANDA appeared first on Dezeen.

Named Neut, the house was designed for a pair of music-lovers, so Apollo Architects & Associates was asked to add a studio with soundproofed concrete walls in the basement of the three-storey structure.

The studio opens out to a glazed triple-height courtyard, which benefits from the light filtering in from above.

A second courtyard is located on the opposite side of the house on the ground floor. This space also sits below a skylight, although it is interrupted by a latticed deck on the uppermost floor.

All bedrooms are positioned on the ground floor, while a living room and bathroom occupy the top floor. All of these rooms face down onto the courtyards through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Interior surfaces are finished in a mixture of raw concrete, white plaster and timber panels. Meanwhile, the facade is dominated by timber louvres, which enclose a cantilevered balcony at the edge of the living room.

Tokyo-based Apollo Architects & Associates is led by Satoshi Kurosaki. The studio also recently completed Still, a concrete house for a surgeon, and Flag, a narrow house with a glazed ground-floor gallery.

See more architecture by Apollo Architects & Associates »

Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.

Here's a project description from Apollo Architects & Associates:

Neut, Suginami ward, Tokyo

The ophthalmologist couple purchased this narrow, but deep, parcel of land in a quiet neighborhood to build a house where they could enjoy their hobby of listening to the music.

On the basement level, the courtyard and double-pane glazing provide sound-buffer for this RC-structure studio which is insulated on the exterior.

Natural light enters the studio through the courtyard and makes the space exceptionally inhabitable as a basement.

The balcony extends from the building and acts as the canopy over the garage with pilotis and entrance.

The horizontal wooden slats are used as balcony balustrade to block the view from the street while allowing the air to breeze through.

The randomly sized wooden pieces give the facade distinctive appearance. The ground floor contains private rooms such as master bedroom and children's bedrooms.

The second floor, on the other hand, is intended as family room. The generously-sized gabled-roof space has two courtyards which accentuate the floor plan with their curves.

Through the clerestory windows, the outside scenery and natural light enter the space.

The wet area is separated from the living room by the tiled wall with its upper part glazed. The same wooden panel of the living room ceiling is used in the wet area to create the appearance of a continuous space.

When viewed from inside, the horizontal wooden louver also accentuates the interior space while securing the privacy.

By using only the simple finishing material on the interior, the space has the austere and coordinated feel.

Furthermore, the combination of concrete and wood, as well as the gabled roof motif add warmth to the room's ambience.

This design technique allows the occupants to forget that they are in a dense residential district. It is one of the most popular solutions in the urban setting.

The post Neut by Apollo Architects
& Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Named NN-House, the two-storey family residence is hemmed in amongst a jumble of properties that include a five-storey apartment block to the north and a two-storey residence to the south, so privacy was one of the most important aspects of the design.

The client asked PANDA for a series of secluded outdoor spaces. "Standing on the empty lot and carefully observing 'open' spots around it, we began to naturally envision the best locations for the courtyard and roof terrace," explains architect Kozo Yamamoto.

The courtyard is slotted into a triangular space at the back of the house, while the terrace is located a storey above and both are screened behind the exterior walls.

Most windows face out to the terrace and courtyard, while others are arranged in narrow strips along the tops of the walls. "We made sure that openings are placed at an appropriate height and location so that they can open up the house towards outside while keeping privacy," says Yamamoto.

Two bedrooms and a traditional Japanese room are on the ground floor of the house, while a combined kitchen, living room and dining room occupy the entire first floor. One staircase connects the floors inside the building, while another ascends between the courtyard and the terrace.

A mezzanine loft sits directly above the kitchen beneath the highest section of the roof and opens out to a balcony overlooking the street.

The architect used a monochrome colour palette for the walls of the house, with black on the outer surfaces and white for the interiors. This rule is broken in a handful of spaces to emphasise protruding volumes and edges.

Other Japanese houses completed recently include a monolithic building with only one window and a rural residence based on a sundial. See more architecture in Japan.

Photography is by Koichi Torimura.

Here's the project description from Kozo Yamamoto:

NN-House

This single-family house is located on a site in a commercial area near a main road in Tokyo.

Height restriction of the area is not strict therefore it is surrounded by buildings with various heights. The site is sandwiched between old two-storey house and five-storey apartment building. Our client requested us to design an 'open' house in this densely populated environment.

In order to avoid unnecessary exposure to public view, we interpret this site condition as a sort of 'natural' condition specific to the site. Standing on the empty lot and carefully observing 'open' spots around it, we began to naturally envision the best locations for the courtyard and roof terrace, which are two important elements requested by the client. Bedrooms are located on the first floor, living/dining/kitchen space on the second floor and loft space above kitchen.

Locations of all openings are carefully worked out in section, so that they can open up towards the 'open' spots. Heights and locations of walls around courtyard and roof terrace are designed according to various specific factors of the site. In view of exterior factor we considered location of windows of surrounding buildings, location of the roof, and height from the ground. And in view of interior factors we considered view from inside, natural light, roof, ceiling inclination.

We made sure that openings are placed at an appropriate height and location so that they can open up the house towards outside while keeping privacy. Space and form of the house are decided in accordance with the client's requests and the surrounding 'nature', without any arbitrary reasons.

Walls are coloured in black and white; basically exterior walls are painted black and interior walls white. And in some areas white interior walls extend outwards and meet black exterior walls, and in some areas white interior volumes are made visible from outside.

Architect: PANDA /Kozo Yamamoto
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Structural Engineer: a・s・t atelier
Contractor: B・L home

Total Floor Area: 99.44 sqm
Building Area: 61.59sqm
Year: 2013

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

Above: first floor plan - click for larger image

Above: loft floor plan - click for larger image

Above: section AA' - click for larger image

Above: section BB' - click for larger image

The post NN-House by
PANDA appeared first on Dezeen.