8Kumo by TANK
Unfinished concrete is combined with exposed plywood in this Tokyo apartment renovated by Japanese architecture firm TANK (+ slideshow)
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_1.jpg)
TANK wanted to create a more spacious and flexible layout in the compact Japanese apartment, which was previously divided by a narrow corridor into various cramped rooms.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_2.jpg)
"I considered that the room should have flexibility and the tenant can arrange it as she likes," explains the designer.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_3.jpg)
The team began by making the bathroom much larger and inserting sliding doors on both sides, enabling an extra route between the bedroom and the hallway.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_5.jpg)
The narrow entrance hall is designed as a "Doma" - a traditional Japanese entranceway - with a bare concrete floor that contrasts with the raised wooden flooring of the living area.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_4.jpg)
An exposed larch frame extends out beneath a raw concrete ceiling, while vertical batons combine with plywood sheets to form a screen dividing the bedroom from the living area.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_6.jpg)
The bedroom and adjacent closet are doorless, with walls and ceilings designed to look deliberately incomplete.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_7.jpg)
"There are no doors for the bedroom or walk-in closet," explains TANK. "The walls and ceiling have an unfinished look, I leave it to the tenant's taste as to how to utilise these rooms."
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_9.jpg)
A clear glass lampshade houses a bare bulb that descends from the ceiling in the bedroom, casting long shadows from the wooden frame.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_8.jpg)
Other projects we've featured by TANK on Dezeen include an apartment with floors and ceilings covered in the same boards and a Tokyo apartment with removable patches of carpet to be used as flip flops.
See more Japanese houses on Dezeen, or see our Pinterest board filled with Japanese residences.
![8kumo by TANK 8kumo by TANK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/05/Dezeen_8kumo-by-TANK_10.gif)
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