Situated in an old quarter of Kyoto with traditional houses, this new day-care centre for the elderly was inserted in a gap in the existing urban fabric. All one sees from the street is a narrow white volume. Behind the semi-transparent wood entrance gate is an open space that affords access to the various levels of the building. The ground floor establishes a spatial link with the old single-storey courtyard buildings that were traditionally used as tea houses and which now contain sanitary facilities.