BIG IN JAPAN

This unique apartment may sit on the Silicon Roundabout in East London but its style is influenced by Japanese culture, from anime to arched passageways and moss gardens

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'm not sure it's clear enough from the photos how important the bath is to the entire flat," says the architect Micah Sarut. "It's right in the middle of it." This central bathroom has three different windows looking out into the living room, dining area and bedroom. "You can be in the bath having a conversation with somebody sitting on the sofa, for example." Better still, you can invite everyone to join in the bath, measuring a metre by almost two metres, was inspired by Japanese communal bathing, and with its efficient water-reheating and recycling system, always stays the same temperature. "You can keep it going for a couple of days," says Micah.

Indeed, Japan was the key inspiration for the project - Micah's client is "very familiar" with its culture, and Micah himself lived and studied there. But they were keen "not to produce something that was overtly Japanese", he adds. "It's more, "If you know, you know" - though the way everything is put together is really quite Japanese."