Gakudai Apartment
Located in Tokyo's Setagaya-ku, Gakudai Apartment is a renovation of our own home. Working across design and construction, we approached the renovation by balancing what we wanted aesthetically with what made sense practically.
The building dates back to the 1960s, while the apartment had undergone a renovation around 20 years ago. The previous renovation had worked around the existing constraints rather than resolving them.
Because of the original plumbing shafts and structural columns, fitting a unit bath had created dead spaces and an awkward kitchen layout. The original bathroom window and two corridor-facing windows had been closed off. There was no insulation, and the walls and ceiling felt bulky. Despite the limited space, there were too many openings into the LDK, with separate doors for the entrance, toilet, bathroom and bedroom all lined up next to each other.
Those became our starting points.
We started by taking everything back to the original structure. We kept one continuous floor level throughout the apartment and decided to use lauan plywood and stainless steel as the main materials throughout.
We wanted to introduce as few dividing walls as possible while still giving each space a clear function. The layout was reorganised to separate the day and night areas, making the kitchen-dining-living space the focal point.
Replacing the entrance door with a better-insulated one allowed us to remove the partition between the entrance and LDK. We enlarged the original doma slightly and finished it in mortar, then added a custom bench, coat rack and elastic-rope shoe storage attached to the exposed concrete column.
For the kitchen, we opted to reuse a stainless-steel Maruzen industrial kitchen, salvaged from an office due to be demolished. We raised it with adjustable legs and designed the internal storage, again using lauan plywood.
One compromise we consciously accepted was the range hood. The closest exhaust opening was only 100 mm, which wouldn't work with a standard range hood. Bringing the duct to the 150 mm opening would have meant crossing the whole room, so we chose a simple ventilation fan instead and kept the piping simple.
Once the ceiling was exposed, we discovered another peculiarity of the top-floor apartment: the roof slopes slightly towards the drains, resulting in an irregular ceiling height around the LDK. To solve this, a stainless-steel bar has been installed around the living room, balancing the unevenness while doubling as a curtain rail and hanger.
We moved the bedroom to the quieter side and enclosed it almost like a wooden box. Insulation was added to the ceiling and neighbouring wall. The bed has hidden storage and integrated plugs and switches, while custom-made stainless-steel reading lights allow us to use them independently.
The large bedroom door is also a mirror. It closes against the original column and beam, which we intentionally chose not to even out. Since the structure wasn't symmetrical, neither is the door.
Behind the bedroom, a small storage room contains an office and can become a guest room. The desk folds against the wall when not in use.
The bathroom was where we really played it by centimetres. Fitting both a bathtub and shower into such a limited space was tricky, and a unit bath was not an option. We used Mortex and a classic TOTO poly bathtub instead, giving us more freedom with the layout.
We reopened the original bathroom window and added a glass door to bring eastern light into the wash area. The corridor windows were restored too, with glass blocks keeping the toilet private while retaining the light. The mirror slides on a rail so the window can still be opened.
The veranda is long and narrow, so we moved the outdoor AC units up onto the walls. With the windows open, it almost feels like an engawa extending the living room.
Working with an existing building inevitably meant accepting some compromises. Those constraints became part of the design rather than something to hide.
We weren't trying to make the apartment feel new. We wanted to make the existing 50 m² work better for the way we live.
