Xchange Apartments is a minimal space located in Kyoto, Japan, designed by TANK. The apartment is located nearby Kiyomizu Temple, and has an excellent view of the Five Sacred Mountains of Kyoto. The architects tried to integrate traditional Japanese techniques normally not used in construction. The architects used a composite technique similar to Fiber Reinforced Plastic layering, and used the translucent resin for the washroom floor to mimic this method. The translucent resin is polished to reveal the underlying glass-fiber layers over the wooden base, resulting in a translucent, yet complex visual texture while achieving material strength and waterproofing needed for the location.

Photography by Kenta Hasegawa