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Architects: Eureka, HHO, Keio Architecture Sano Lab
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Ookura Hideki, Uemura Kohei
Text description provided by the architects. A two-story wooden office building on a sloping land in a densely-built residential area. The office spaces are mainly on the upper floor and are filled with indirect natural light, while the ground floor is open to the surrounding area and serves as a link between the office space on the upper floor and the local community. The structural timber frames leaning against the rigid concrete retaining wall create the open ground floor space.
The brightness of the interior spaces was critical to this project. The purpose was to create a comfortable and energy-efficient office space, as well as to create a sense of openness and continuity with the neighborhood. Natural light streaming in through the clerestory windows is diffused by light shelves made of perforated metal plates and metal fabric and reflected off the curved ceiling, illuminating the entire office space and the first-floor entrance hall.
Light environment of workspace with natural light from clerestory windows - To reduce the energy consumption of artificial lighting and improve the wellness and productivity of workers, we aimed to create a bright workspace utilizing daylight. Although the site is open only to the north, the aim was to maximize the brightness by daylight by introducing softly diffusing and reflecting light from the south-facing clerestory windows. The perforated metal reflectors soften the direct light into the space and, at the same time, illuminate the ceiling with reflected light, giving the space an expansive height direction. These ceilings are either aluminum-foil-finished sloped ceilings or plaster-finished curved ceilings, which fill the space with light and accentuate the height of the ceiling. Simulations of daylight autonomy have confirmed that daylight illumination (300 lx) is secured throughout the seasons.
Analytical design of spatial elements to promote workers' communication - To promote communication among workers in the office space, we designed the arrangement and shape of spatial elements, e.g., office desks, maximizing visual connectivity. Specifically, we employed a rational furniture arrangement to maximize visual connectivity using space syntax, with multiple island-type desks and PC monitors arranged mainly in an east-west orientation. This enabled an integrated spatiality in response to the light and floor levels in the scale of the furniture and fixtures.
