SO&CO completes an ultra-thin, L-shaped office building in tokyo

so teruuchi of architecture firm SO&CO has completed an ultra-skinny building in one of ginza’s backstreets in tokyo. set within an L-shaped plot, the building, which is intended for retail, measures just 2.7-meters wide and is four-stories tall. due to its narrow nature, the architect encountered several limitations while working on site. for example, the construction team could not fit any big machinery inside the plot, meaning that many tasks had to be done by hand.

all images by takumi ota

‘we felt that, in the middle of this packed area it would be necessary to create an iconic building that make people look up, like a bell tower,’ explains so teruuchi of SO&CO. the building is divided into two volumes: the narrow one presented to the alley; and a larger one at the rear of the plot. set within these two volumes is a compact staircase that connects them. this creates a central, naturally illuminated space where the interior rooms can look towards.

due to the non-resistant ground and the difficult to access L-shaped site, the architects knew they couldn’t use a steel structure — instead they opted for a reinforced concrete one. because the foundation was limited, the building had to be as light as possible with openings that are as large as possible. the slenderness of the building is consciously increased by adding a roof terrace enclosed by a perimeter wall of 2.4 meters. internally, the structure contains five individual offices.

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project info:

name: tiny tower in ginza
architecture firm: so teruuchi/SO&CO
type: commercial building
description: 4-storey, reinforced concrete structure
completion year: 2019
gross built area: 111.54 sqm
location: tokyo, japan

lead architects: so teruuchi
design team: masafumi koyama,kohshi higaki
consultants: style labo
structural engineering: frameworks
engineering: hezeraf
contractor: double box
photography: takumi ota