Shirokane housing

Preliminary Design
Will Galloway, Koen Klinkers,
Yuka Takeuchi


A small site, intended for dense inhabitation.

Located next to a university the apartment building is designed as a stack of studio apartments for students. With this in mind eight units are joined together around a brightly colored exterior stairwell with oversized landings and balconies. The stair is a shared space and a willful extension of the small units, intended to be appropriated in part for the residents' daily lives.

Each unit is unique, including half-submerged units on the bottom and mezzanine units on the top floors that extend livable space upwards as far as possible.