“Frame" is the renovation of a penthouse in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Two adjacent dwellings (east and west) were made into one unit for a family of four. In order to make it easier to divide again in the future, and to meet the project’s budgetary constraints, the main construction work was largely confined to the living and dining area of the eastern unit.
Our challenge was determining how to create spatial relationships within the larger new unit, with its mix of new space and original, untouched space. Taking a cue from the positions of existing concrete columns, walls and openings, first a rectangular space in the west dwelling was enclosed. It was then reproduced at the same size in the east dwelling and rotated 90 degrees. (See the photos and the plan animation). Within the one combined dwelling unit, there were now two rectangular rooms, each with windows and doors of the same size and in the same locations. The newly created eastern rectangle is a living space with a new kitchen; the original rectangle is the studio for the owner's work. The accumulated experience of going back and forth between the two identically shaped rooms in the course of everyday life will finally bring the unity of space to the new dwelling unit.

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