Noguchi Company House
Tokyo, Japan
Employee housing as well as the residence of a regional company president with its head office on the Arakawa River was planned in the style of a row house.
Based on the president's concept that creating an environment in which new hires from rural areas can work with peace of mind is essential for recruiting young employees, the planned building is adjacent to the dormitory for young employees and the president's residence. While a typical company tends to retain some distance between the president and new employees, this residence subtly encourages daily interaction, psychological closeness, and familiarity between them.
The site is a narrow rectangle of 7 meters in width and 40 meters in depth, effectively banning lighting windows for first floor living spaces, and normally limiting buildings to three stories. Using skylights on the first floor ensured lighting for living spaces that meets legal requirements and completing the plan for the four-story building.
The president's residence on the top floor provides a comfortable and peaceful living environment for the couple and their child by providing views of the surrounding area and protecting their privacy from opposing windows.
Due to the limited floor area of the first and second floors of the company housing units, we proposed using the second-floor corridors as kitchen dining spaces. Rather than leaving corridors as mere spaces to traverse, they were made into dining areas with colorful atrium walls and installed tables. And due to the compact nature of each unit, space is effectively utilized through exposed storage.
