London-based architect Adam Nathaniel Furman was commissioned to refurbish a 3-bedroom, 160 sqm apartment in Nagatacho, Japan

Nagatacho is an administrative district of central Tokyo, located in Chiyoda Ward. 

The space consists of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large communal living area and a terrace.

According to Furman, the apartment is a “retreat of pure sensual delight, a small but intensely crafted manifesto for an architecture that luxuriates in a hyper-aestheticised celebration of the senses, and of every-day domestic life”.

The project included a palette of pastel colours, natural and artificial materials, and an open and interconnected layout gathering at its heart

 “Combining to create a voluptuous interior world of perfectly poised, gentle deviance”

A combination of contemporary techniques and traditional craftsmanship were used throughout, with wooden details and cabinetry, and marquetry doors.

fabricated using laser-cutting technology

made by hand by skilled carpenters

Materials were chosen by the architect for their sensuality and their effect on the imagination, rather than their origins. The space combines translucent, plastic and artificial marbles with high-quality hand-finished spruce or hand-made porcelain handles

For Furman, the Nagatacho apartment is “an experiment in the euphoric connoisseurship of colour, texture, material and form in the theatre of the quotidian, a space that elevates the client’s daily rituals and communal activities into a space of continuously seductive aesthetic delectation.

Other elements include glossy nylon fixtures, hand-made carpet and exquisite textured wallpaper and semi-matte plastic wall finishes.

Colour palettes and textures are constant features in Furman’s work, from furniture projects such as the PHaB Chairs to larger-scale urban interventions as the Look Down to Look Up