Flore Motosumiyoshi

An apartment building aimed at “lifelong renting”—living while moving to suit each life stage. A caretaker, the moribito, links the community and residents, and entrance surroundings that continue inside to out let activity seep into the street. We aimed for rental housing that keeps changing with the times.

Data

Completed
2020
Primary Use
Rental housing
Project Type
New build
Structure / Scale
Precast wall-frame reinforced concrete, 6 stories
Site Area
5,330.56㎡
Building Area
2,334.93㎡
Total Floor Area
8,480.89㎡ (153 units total)
Architects
Takeshi Shikauchi + Megumi Tano
Client
Kanagawa Prefectural Housing Supply Corporation
Joint Design
Taisei U-Lec, Tokyo Gas Communications Living Design Division
Lighting Design
Sonobe Design Office
Operation
HITOTOWA INC.
Contractor
Taisei U-Lec Co., Ltd.
Photography
Kouichi Torimura / Kouichi Torimura Photography

Award

Good Design Award
Good Design Award 2020

Rental Housing That Connects with Its Community and Grows

A rental apartment building for the community. It is a project aimed at a lifestyle we might call “lifelong renting”—living while changing where and how large one’s home is to suit each life stage. A shared lounge is provided in the common areas, staffed by day by a community-minded caretaker called a moribito (“guardian”). In the community-exchange space the moribito runs, we aimed for a dwelling that connects residents with the people and happenings of the area and can be tuned to the needs of the times. Around the entrances, which form the boundary between the building and the neighborhood, we placed benches, counters, and eaves spaces, with materials that continue from inside to out. Activity indoors seeps outward, and at neighborhood events such as festivals, inside and outside can be used as one. What matters is not treating the moment of completion as the finish, but being able to keep tuning the building as the times change; rental housing, too, we believe, can take on a public role for its community.