In Japan, Roovice renovates abandoned houses at no cost to their owners

With this project for the reconfiguration of a two-storey house in Tokyo’s Itabashi district, Roovice continues its commitment to the Kariage initiative, aimed at revitalizing vacant and abandoned properties. Specifically, through the Kariage program, Roovice operates within the metropolitan areas of Tokyo and Kanagawa, offering an innovative service for the recovery of entire buildings or individual apartments. The process involves specific agreements between Roovice and the owners of selected properties, ensuring both an increase in the property’s value and no initial renovation costs for the owner. The value of the intervention is determined based on the expected rental income after renovation. In this way, the investors financing the work can recover their investment through leasing contracts lasting between six and eight years. At the end of the agreed period, the property is returned to its owner, who can then decide whether to use it personally or continue renting it out.

Principles of simplicity and practicality are reflected in the organization of the new spatial layout as well as in the choice of materials — minimal, yet always consistent with the aesthetics and tradition of the Japanese home.
The main challenge in Itabashi involved a substantial rethinking of the ground floor, which was originally organized with a central kitchen positioned between two tatami rooms — a layout that made it difficult to make full use of each space. In the new configuration, the kitchen has been moved to the rear and now opens directly onto the living area, creating a visual continuity and a greater freedom of movement, while maintaining functional separation between the spaces. A particularly interesting solution was adopted for the non-unit kitchen: the sink and hob are recessed into a stainless-steel countertop, which in turn is simply suspended within the original wooden frame. Pipes and drains are left completely exposed, celebrated in their raw infrastructural honesty. The presence of the oshiire — the traditional Japanese closet — as well as the decision to preserve the original shoji panels, both contribute to maintaining the apartment’s authenticity. Upstairs, the spatial organization remains largely unchanged: two private and independent rooms allow future residents to retreat into their own intimacy. To reintroduce a sense of spatial fluidity, Roovice worked with glass panels — functioning as transom windows — placed between walls and ceilings. In this way, filtered light spreads throughout the space, amplifying perception and creating a shared, luminous atmosphere. The first-floor bathroom echoes the kitchen’s essentiality, with minimal material choices and the cool exposure of concrete and tiles contrasting with the warmth of the wood that dominates the other rooms. Lighting, too, follows this essential approach — with the exception of the main rooms, where warmer and more welcoming lamps have been chosen.