This commercial complex for a music company with a long history includes music classrooms, instrument sales and storage spaces, and the company’s main offices. Located in the Kanda-Ochanomizu area of Tokyo, which is known for its many music stores, the lot is small and irregularly shaped. The client requested a building that efficiently combined a variety of functions, including rooms for lessons in piano, violin, and other instruments; a hall for recitals; a professional recording equipment shop; storage for wholesale instrument sales; and offices to manage these various aspects of the businesses.

The requirements related to soundproofing, views, daylighting, shade, and usage time varied for each floor, and the likelihood that these requirements would change in the future was high. We therefore decided to use a double skin that maintains a unified exterior appearance regardless of how rooms are being used or whether windows are open. We selected a mesh membrane that sways at high altitudes, can easily be rounded in all directions to allow for optimal sky-view ratios, and is porous to light and air.

A mesh membrane double skin is used for the facade

▼网状薄膜既能阻挡外界的视线，同时可让内部的人看到外面

The mesh membrane can block the view of the outside world, while allowing people inside to see outside