■ Fabrication of interior and exterior metal panels in a Tokyo apartment block

COMFY COLLECTION MINATO is an apartment block located near the Sumida River in Chuo Ward, a central area of Tokyo. This 10-story collection of designer apartments aspires to offer true living comfort. KIKUKAWA fabricated three types of interior and exterior metal panels, each featuring different materials and finishes.

■ Exterior aluminium panels in two finishes: silver anodized and bright anodized

The exterior of the building’s north face, which is also the front of the block, is clad in around 180m² of exterior panels crafted with bright anodized aluminium alloy. This finish adds further shine to a special material, known as bright aluminium alloy, through polishing and anodizing processes. The finish is distinctive for its soft glow, as if gently reflecting the colours of the surrounding scenery. This also means the appearance of the building changes along with shifts in the weather and time of day.
On the opposite side, the building’s south face is clad in standard aluminium panels featuring a silver anodized finish and a matte electrophoretic clear coating. While also silver, like the bright anodized panels on the north face, the gloss has been toned down on these panels, resulting in a subtle matte look.

Click here for more information on our bright anodized aluminium panels

■ Engineering proposal for detailing of exterior aluminium panel

The panels on both the north and south faces have a standard size of approximately 1100mm (W) × 2800mm (H) and 3mm-thick cut panels. While most of the panels were installed using typical screw fastenings, with joint widths of 12-15mm, we also incorporated the use of hook-type fixtures for the panels at the left and right edges to ensure an immaculately neat look.

■ Stainless steel wall panels in a Silky Blast finish

KIKUKAWA also fabricated wall panels for the elevator lobby on each floor of the building. These panels were 3mm-thick stainless steel cut panels with a Silky Blast finish. Silky Blast is a surface treatment in which countless tiny beads are blasted onto the panel surface, resulting in a fine-grained and smooth shine quite distinct from other finishing options such as HL (hairline) grinding.

For floors 1 through 9, the wall panels below the elevator buttons including access openings, while the ground floor panel layout is different. Multiple elevator control systems are installed at the ground floor level, so these panels were designed as door panels, with simple one-touch opening and closing. In this way, the panel design was tailored to accommodate both aesthetics and functionality, in order to meet client requirements.

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■ A Luxury characteristic of metal and bespoke finishes

While we might refer to “metal panels” as a category, in fact clients will select optimal materials and finishes according to intended use and desired appearance. For each of the panel types used in this project, the client selected finishes that highlighted the distinctive metallic properties of the base material. The result is a luxe look, achievable only with metal panels, which contributes to the achievement of this high-quality living space.