Project Date
Project Name：Renovation in Kita-Ueno
Architect or Architecture Firm：UENOA architects / Yoshinori Hasegawa+Fumie Horikoshi
Completion Year：2021
Built Area：103.18 m²
Project Location：Tokyo,Japan
Photographer：Naomichi Sode(architecture),UENOA(model)

"Second frame"
This is a renovation project for a 30-year-old building in Kita-Ueno, Tokyo. The site where the building is located is lined with small buildings facing a narrow street, making it difficult to take in the outside environment, such as views and lighting. Before the renovation, the residence was divided into small rooms with small windows in each room. When we began dismantling the existing interior, we discovered a wonderful feature of this building. The small light coming in through the small windows installed in each room gathered together to form a large light that spread throughout the space. Although small, the windows were located on all four perimeters of the building, so that the slightest gaps and reflections in the built-up cityscape were collected and felt like a place that was in relationship with the external environment. Using this feature, the plan was to create a continuous living space on the perimeter and divide it with fittings according to the changes in the family life. Just as the existing RC beams retain the memory of the old layout, the newly planned large wooden beams will help create the history of the future life as the "second frame". The four wooden beams planned throughout the space divide the building into nine sections, and we hope that they will remain with the building for a long time, beyond their mere role as fixture rails or for flexible floor plans.