Dezeen Magazine

Hiroyuki Ogawa Architects divides up tiny Tokyo apartment with sliding screens

Hiroyuki Ogawa Architects has renovated a room inside a reinforced-concrete building in Tokyo to create a 34-square-metre studio apartment that can be divided up with sliding wooden screens. 

Located in a residential area of Tokyo between Shibuya and Daikanyama, the small apartment is separated into two parts by a series of sliding zigzag-patterned screens.

One side of the apartment houses a large main living space with a generous ceiling height that could be used as a living room, dining room or bedroom.

The other side is occupied by a master bathroom, kitchen and half bathroom, which can all be partially or fully partitioned off from the main space by the sliding screens.

"When connected to the main room, the possibility for such activities as reading, enjoying a film, or having a cup of tea turn the space into a 'Living Bathroom', the defining feature of this room," said the architects.

A mezzanine level that sits above the master bathroom and kitchen within the domed portion of the ceiling functions as a loft space.

The apartment's two large glass windows allow plenty of light to pour into main space and the master bathroom.

A monotone palette of beige, white and light coloured wood with a furnished. The walls in the main space are finished with plaster in order to gently diffuse the daylight.

Meanwhile, all of the rooms, including the utility rooms, have tile flooring, that the local studio said provides the home with a "sense of unity and spaciousness".

"Within a ten minute walking distance from all the excitement of central Shibuya and a vast, open master bathroom where you can idle the day away in the tub, we've created a space that will allow you to relax both your mind and your body," said Hiroyuki Ogawa.

Last year, design studio Minorpoet used a series of folding timber doors to conceal a kitchen in an a 1960s apartment in Tokyo.

Photograohy is by Kaku Ohtaki.

More images