Apollo: Tepe house

In the cantilevered house by Apollo Architects the balcony protrudes to make full use of the site, but it also creates a sense of depth that is unique to the semi-enclosed space.

Apollo Tepe house
The Tepe house, which has a striking exterior that broadly protrudes, stands on a small hill. This house, which means "hill" in Turkish, is built next to the house of the residents' parents and has become a symbolic building for the neighbourhod. The parking lot and approach-stairs are located at the front side of the site and provide access to the hill-top entrance. Since most of the site is sloped, the protrusion of the house characteristically floats via steel frames while a flat surface supports its groundwork.
Apollo Tepe house: 02
Top and above: Apollo architects, Tepe house, Tokyo, Japan 2008. Photo Masao Nishikawa

Cross-sectional ingenuities are employed in many places, such as in the creation of a storage space under the floor by utilizing the depth of the groundwork that is used to help support the counterweight of the cantilever.

Sunlight showers the open-ceiling entrance hall. The living and dining rooms are designed with a slab floor continuation from the entrance, and they have a superb view that skillfully incorporates the neighbour's well-kept yard as a borrowed landscape. The gentle steps from the living room to the dining room create a stage-like atmosphere in the space, and the skylight emphasizes dramatic shadings.

Apollo: Tepe house 02
Apollo architects, Tepe house, Tokyo, Japan 2008. Photo Masao Nishikawa

The balcony protrudes to make full use of the site, but it also creates a sense of depth that is unique to the semi-enclosed space. Furthermore, it has a role of blocking the view from the road.

In contrast to the open first floor, a common courtyard is made for the main bedroom and children's room on the second floor, and garden views and sky views can be enjoyed in privacy. The floor level window from the children's room has a view that extends all the way to the scenery at the bottom of the hill. By cross-sectional manipulation of elevation levels, the biggest characteristic of this house is that one can enjoy the depth and rhythm in many places within the house.

Apollo: Tepe house 03
Apollo architects, Tepe house, Tokyo, Japan 2008. Photo Masao Nishikawa


Tepe house
Higashikurume city, Tokyo, Japan
Architects: Satoshi Kurosaki/Apollo Architects & Associates
Completion: 2008
Built Area: 81.78 sqm 109.89 sqm (70.72 sqm/1F, 39.17 sqm/2F)
Structural Engineer: Kenta Masaki
Mechanical Engineer: Zenei Shimada
Photography: Masao Nishikawa

 

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