APOLLO / Satoshi Kurosaki

This combined shop and residence, located in a commercial district in the old part of Tokyo, sits on a corner lot measuring just 30 square meters. We played up the prominent corner location by turning the façade into an eye-catching checkerboard of concrete and glass. Inside, scenery and sunlight pour in through the windows at every angle, resulting in a visually satisfying space. Both the shop on the first floor and the owner’s residence upstairs are single rooms. By creating continuous spaces rather than dividing them into smaller rooms, we achieved a structure that feels far more spacious than its 23-square-meter footprint would suggest. The project brings together old and new to create an architectural symbol for the whole neighborhood.