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Tokyo, Japan

Photo © Masao Nishikawa 西川公朗

Restaurants, Bars, Clubs

Architects: APOLLO / Satoshi Kurosaki

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2006

In this project we rebuilt an 85-year-old grilled eel restaurant after the street where it is located was widened and the lot shrank. In order to maintain the feeling of a traditional shop in the long, shallow structure, we kept doors and windows on the first floor to a minimum and used wood-plank formwork to pour the concrete exterior walls, creating a surface that evokes an alley lined with an old wooden fence. In contrast, the second floor is a simple white box set on top of the concrete base. With its bold balcony jutting 4.5-meter out over first floor, the building resembles an abstract ship. Our overall aim was to preserve the atmosphere of a long-established shop – a style which enjoys overwhelming support in the area - yet at the same time create a structure unique enough to become a local landmark.