After proving that dream home design is one of their strong skills, Keisuke Kawaguchi + K2-Design designed an intriguing apartment. This stunning structure can be found in Imabari City, in the Japanese Ehime Prefecture. Know as FLAT 40, the dream collection of spaces is intended to be used by a family of four. Designed for an uncomplicated lifestyle, the home displays wood-grained ceiling throughout, perfecting the connection to natural elements inside and outside the home.
Imagined not only as a beautiful home, but a functional and safe one, the apartment’s light-weight roofing safeguards the building from earthquakes as we know that Japan is known for its intense seismic activity. An indoor corridor allows for passive ventilation and constructs an interior world complete with vegetation, as well as pure natural light. Safe and comforting, modern in aesthetics and functional in detail, FLAT 40 offers glimpses of the sky and surroundings through carefully placed window and skylight openings, creating a fabulous contemporary atmosphere.
The structure was designed to ensure privacy even though it neighbors a seven-story apartment building. This was done by studying the plot and surroundings and constructing a 40 meter concrete screen wall along the south side of the residence, where the apartment building rises: “The structural feature we adopted is ukikabe, a floating screen wall, which is suspended above the ground 1.5 meters away from the exterior of the residence (…) The ukikabe solves a number of issues. It successfully obstructs the view from any floor of the neighboring apartment building, yet from inside the residence, one can see the feet of those approaching the property. It allows ample light and ventilation while ensuring privacy and security, creating an ideal living environment. In terms of weight, ukikabe is well balanced to the main body of the house, and also provides a screen for the air-conditioning unit.”
