Casa Legato by Hugo Kohno Architect Associates

Casa Legato, designed by Hugo Kohno Architect Associates, is a residential complex composed of 11 maisonette units that reconsiders how multi-family housing can offer privacy, adaptability, and environmental comfort within a tightly constrained urban setting. Rather than relying on repetitive and standardized layouts typical of rental housing, the project is structured around a nuanced system of nested spatial layers. This strategy allows each dwelling to feel both protected and expressive, balancing individuality with collective living.

A Spatial System Defined by Layers

At the core of the design lies a clear architectural framework organized into four interrelated components: the Void Core, the Space, the Buffer, and the Case. Together, these layers establish a hierarchy that mediates light, air, movement, and privacy.

The Void Core functions as the environmental heart of the building, channeling daylight and natural ventilation deep into the interior while shaping the project’s outward form. The Space refers to the primary living areas—living, dining, and sleeping zones—where daily life unfolds. Surrounding these is the Buffer, a sequence of corridors, staircases, storage areas, and service spaces that form a protective envelope. Finally, the Case acts as the outer shell, enclosing the system and responding to the surrounding neighborhood.

This layered composition introduces spatial depth, allowing the interior environment to resonate with the exterior while remaining shielded from its pressures.

Responding to Site Constraints and Urban Noise

The site sits adjacent to a railway line and within a densely built residential area, presenting challenges related to noise, privacy, and access to daylight. Casa Legato addresses these constraints through spatial organization rather than heavy insulation or isolation. The Buffer layer plays a critical role here, absorbing sound, filtering light, and regulating airflow before it reaches the living spaces.

By wrapping primary living zones with secondary spaces such as stairs, storage, and service areas, the project reduces both physical and psychological proximity between neighboring units. This layered separation allows residents to maintain a sense of calm and seclusion despite the building’s compact footprint.

Buffers as Active Spatial Devices

In Casa Legato, the Buffer is not treated as residual space. Instead, it operates as an active architectural device that improves environmental performance and enriches daily experience. At certain points, living spaces subtly expand into the Buffer, creating moments of spatial variation and informal connection to the outside.

Bathrooms and other wet areas are deliberately positioned between units, introducing another layer of acoustic and visual separation. This thoughtful arrangement enhances privacy while ensuring that essential services contribute to the overall spatial logic rather than interrupt it.

Staircases, typically reduced to purely functional circulation elements, take on a more complex role. They help regulate light, sound, and thermal comfort, acting as environmental moderators as well as spatial connectors.

The Void Core as Environmental and Formal Generator

Located at the center of the building, the Void Core is instrumental in shaping both interior quality and exterior expression. By drawing in daylight and encouraging cross-ventilation, it improves the living environment while reducing reliance on mechanical systems.

At the same time, the Void Core influences the building’s form, articulating its massing and creating visual permeability. This inward-facing openness counteracts the density of the surrounding neighborhood, giving residents access to light and air even in the most central units.

Dividing the Volume to Invite the City In

To further prevent enclosure and monotony, the building is divided into two primary volumes, allowing a narrow, lane-like passage to extend into the site. This move introduces an urban-scale void that benefits even the most interior dwellings, enabling them to engage with external conditions rather than turning inward completely.

Canopies articulate both the first and upper floors, helping to break down the overall scale of the building so it sits comfortably among the surrounding low-rise structures. This careful modulation avoids visual dominance and reinforces the project’s sensitivity to its context.

Maisonette Living and Spatial Expansion

In the maisonette units that extend to the third floor, stairs become more than vertical connectors. They expand at intermediate levels, forming annex-like spaces that complement the main living areas. These expanded landings introduce flexibility, allowing residents to appropriate them as workspaces, reading corners, or storage zones depending on their lifestyle.

From the exterior, these internal shifts translate into a distinctive articulation of projecting walls. This rhythmic façade treatment adds lightness to the building’s volume and reflects the internal diversity of the units without resorting to decorative gestures.

Adaptability, Identity, and Long-Term Value

By avoiding rigid repetition, Casa Legato offers residents greater freedom to shape their own modes of living. The absence of uniform layouts encourages personalization, while the layered spatial system supports changing needs over time. This adaptability benefits not only occupants but also owners, enhancing the long-term value of the property.

Ultimately, Casa Legato demonstrates how careful spatial structuring can transform the limitations of dense urban housing into opportunities. Through layered organization, environmental sensitivity, and an emphasis on lived experience, the project creates a residential environment that is both deeply individual and quietly collective.

Photography: Seiichi Ohsawa