![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_hero-852x480.jpg)
Blank metal facade of Tokyo home hides tree-planted courtyard
Apollo Architects & Associates has designed the austere metal-clad exterior of this compact home to disguise a central planted courtyard covered by exposed wooden rafters.
Leaf House is located in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Tokyo where its owners also run a dentistry clinic.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_3-852x1255.jpg)
Its name refers to the visual similarity of the roof rafters to the veins of a leaf.
Conceived by Apollo Architects & Associates as an "intermediate area between the indoors and the outside world", the home is arranged so that all of its rooms face inwards to the central garden, planted with a single tree.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_20-852x1278.jpg)
The exterior of the home is almost entirely blank, save for two glass areas – one semi-mirrored and one frosted.
These windows give glimpses of the tree inside, and a series of small, high-level windows at the rear of the building.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_18-852x1278.jpg)
"It is impossible to imagine the interior living space based on the dark grey galvalume steel outer wall or the closed facade made of half-mirrored glass," said the studio.
"Moving inside one becomes conscious of the comfortable contrast afforded by the expansive space, suffused with natural light."
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_23-852x1278.jpg)
Leaf House's entrance, cut-out of the facade to create an area covered by the upper storey, leads into an L-shaped corridor.
This corridor runs alongside the children's bedrooms to reach a large master bedroom at the rear of the home.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_26-852x568.jpg)
Glazing with sliding doors surrounds the courtyard at this level, providing light and access to fresh air for all of the bedrooms.
The first floor is entirely taken up by a large living, kitchen and dining area that wraps around the courtyard.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_9-852x678.jpg)
This level is illuminated by a skylight that covers half of the roof, allowing light to enter through the gaps between the wooden rafters.
"Looking up at the ceiling, the exposed rafters - the most prominent feature of this house – transition from the interior to the exterior, where they transform into a pergola," said the studio.
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_15-852x568.jpg)
Dark wooden flooring, grey wall finishes and uplighting illuminating the rafters creates warm, intimate spaces for Leaf House.
"The sky is trimmed by a striped pattern evoking the veins of a leaf that crosses the inside and outside of the house along the simple gabled roofline," continued the studio.
"The space is imbued with a sense of depth by the play of light and shadow projected into the room."
![Leaf by Apollo Architects & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2020/03/leaf-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-residential-japanese-houses_dezeen_1704_col_16-852x1278.jpg)
Tokyo-based Apollo Architects & Associates was founded by Satoshi Kurosaki in 2000, and has previously completed another house in Tokyo that featured a closed, black exterior, opening-up internally to overlook a courtyard planted with a tree.
This approach of a closed exterior and a courtyard interior was also used by Osaka-based practice Arbol, which designed a wood-clad home in Akashi looking inwards to courtyards for growing food and drying clothes.