Residence in Hiroshima
Hiroshima’s centre straddles the delta of the Ōta River, and this three-storey townhouse is located near one of its many regulated distributaries. The busy street the residence inhabits is host to buildings of widely diverging heights. It intersects nearby with Heiwa Ōdōri, or Peace Boulevard, which leads directly to Kenzō Tange’s Peace Center and Memorial Park. The ground floor consists of a two-car garage and a one-bedroom apartment; the latter receives its daylight from a small rear courtyard. By employing a wall of solid glass blocks, the architects made the upper two storeys a sunny oasis of calm sheltered from the noise of the street, yet dreamily aware of its animated hustle and bustle. The play of light and shadow that characterises this building was brought about through the use of translucent materials; this begins with the skylight glazing directly above the entrance area. This glazing doubles as the transparent bottom of a reflecting pool directly above, and rippling light reflections are cast on the floor and walls. The sliding doors flanking the living room on the first storey allow the space to be opened up completely to the garden courtyard. A light metal-mesh curtain provides spatial definition – transparent and sensual – as desired and contributes to an intimate living atmosphere. The 6000 blocks of cast borosilicate glass were threaded from below on seventy-five stainless-steel rods that are steadied by a steel beam. Once the glass facade, which weighs about 13 tonnes, was in place, the initially cambered beam was encased in concrete. This served two purposes: it was part of the design scheme and improved the structure’s fire resistance. The rods were connected by means of continuous horizontal ribbons of steel flats situated in the horizontal joints to avoid directing horizontal loads into the glass blocks. In addition, via T-shaped sheet-steel inserts made to fit into recesses in the glass blocks, the glazed skin is connected to the two vertical steel fins that serve as wind bracing. The joints between the glass blocks are a mere 6 mm wide; thanks to these unusually narrow dimensions, the facade appears, both from the courtyard and the street, to be a continuous glazed skin.
