Design firm: KEY OPERATION INC./ARCHITECTS
Project name: Clerestory Garden at Naka-Ikebukuro Park
Location: Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Size: 469 sq m

The mixed-use complex designed by KEY OPERATION INC./ARCHITECTS, situated on a narrow, compact lot in a densely built-up area of Tokyo, circumvents the spatial (and psychological) constraints of metropolitan density, finding its “escape route” in airy spaces and a playful approach to living. The complex rises vertically, taking advantage of the area’s relatively permissive building codes, which allow for a floor-to-ceiling height of approximately 4 meters, creating a spacious and expansive interior despite the site’s constraints. Externally, the volume is punctuated by recesses that accommodate vegetation, engaging in dialogue with the greenery of the square in front and transforming the façade into a porous interface between interior and exterior. Inside, the program is organized between the first and sixth floors with commercial functions, while the top two levels house duplex apartments, where innovative spatial features inject an unexpected thirst for adventure into daily routine: from the indoor slides and free-climbing walls that offer alternative and "quick" connections between the levels, to the hammock-like suspended nets in the double-height space, which allow residents to float freely above the domestic landscape.