Architects: ETHNOS
Area: 630 m²
Year: 2022
Photography: Keishin Horikoshi / SS Inc.
Manufacturers: Fuji Sash
Lead Architect: Tatehito Sakruai
Client: REAL PARTNERS Co., Ltd.
City: Minato City
Country: Japan

AUBE Toranomon Residential Building, designed by ETHNOS, is a rental residential project in downtown Tokyo. Completed in 2022, it balances modern urban living with flexible spaces that cater to evolving lifestyles, fostering a harmonious social connection between residents and the city.

AUBE Toranomon Residential Building / ETHNOS

The AUBE Toranomon is situated in downtown Tokyo, where urban renewal is ongoing, and many high-rises are being built. However, many lower buildings are found in the close vicinity. The architect designed the building to accommodate various lifestyles in this rental residential project, fostering a harmonious social connection between residents and the city.

The project began before the COVID-19 pandemic, with changes in lifestyle, especially the increase in working from home. This has blurred the boundaries between living and working spaces. The architect and client introduced rental commercial spaces “ESCALIER” to balance economic efficiency and a better working environment, well adapted and connected to the neighborhood. This residential project aims to enrich the living environment by being very open to the city to contribute to society. The project’s name, “AUBE,” comes from the French word for dawn, symbolizing hope and illumination for the people and the city.

Each apartment unit has a clear division between public and private spaces to provide flexibility for individual tenants’ needs. The building consists of three types of duplex apartments on different floors, with entrances located on the first and third floors. The entrance space can serve as a living room, remote working space, studio, or hobby room, accommodating various uses that do not require privacy.

The staircase within each duplex apartment leads to private spaces. The unit has a box-in-box structure. To connect with the city and transmit information, the entrance door uses transparent glass on the first floor and a wide-open folding door on the third floor. The second and fourth floors, as private spaces, are enclosed with a glass curtain wall that harmonizes with other high buildings in the neighborhood. This design creates layers of public and private spaces on the façade, with front gardens and balconies on public floors that blend with the city’s greenery.

A stair or elevator along the atrium leads to the common space on the third floor, providing light and wind to the apartments. The building features a wall-type frame structure, preventing protrusions in the interior. The structural wall in the middle of the apartment, from the basement to the second floor, serves as an important partition. Despite ceiling height limitations due to shade regulations, integrated beams and flat pre-stressed concrete beams ensure an unobstructed interior.

The building’s frontage is divided into three units due to the land’s shape. The east side unit is folded for emergency evacuation space, and the fourth floor is set back due to sky factor regulations. To highlight the second and fourth floors, the curtain wall is sash-less. A lounge and meeting room offer a communicative space for residents and guests. This project provides a rich living environment and connects residents to society while living in the building.