Hiroyuki Ito completes Tokyo housing block with staggered concrete silhouette

The rooms are finished   in a combination of natural-toned timber, concrete slabs and white   plasterwork, and pale wooden storage units that match the wooden floors and door frames are built into the fabric of the spaces. «Rough concrete panelling was chosen so that one cannot tell when the building was built,»   said the architects. This apartment block in Tokyo by Hiroyuki Ito Architects features concrete walls that step back and forth, and a series of terraces screened by the   facade (+ slideshow). Narrow terraces bordering the living spaces run along the   stepped platforms. Each of the apartments   also has its own internal stairs connecting the upper and lower levels of the duplex layout. Photography is by Makoto Yoshida. The balconies are fronted by slim slabs of concrete with openings that align to   windows and doorways in the facade. Panels of chain-link fencing   provide balustrades. In the grey-tiled bathrooms planes of concrete slope towards wire-patterned window panes. The tilted slabs mirror   the angular forms of the bathroom fittings. Related story: Takanawa House by Hiroyuki Ito and O.F.D.A. Wide glass doors give a clear   sightline through rooms and to   the outdoors, designed to help create a sense of continuity between the spaces. «Each unit has a balcony which has rather high walls with openings so that exterior spaces are experienced in a continuation of the interior space,»   said the architects. The stepped concrete form takes its cues from the the tiered rooftops   of   neighbouring blocks, while a cast-concrete construction was selected   to   make it appear aged.