This small three-story house is built on a 40m2 lot located in a residentialdistrict, which is a few minutes walk from the main road. It is a densely builtuparea with small two- or three- story houses, representing a common livingcondition in Tokyo.
Therefore our client’s request reflected common demands of urban residents:they wanted living space that is ‘closed’ for security and privacy, but also‘open and bright’ with sufficient natural light inside.Due to limited budget and modest lifestyle, the house is a simple three-storyhouse of wood construction, with each floor accommodating different function.Building height and ceiling heights are automatically determined by north sideslant line regulation.
We intend to create a sense of spaciousness in this small volume. In order tomaximize the verticality we provide living/dining/kitchen space adjacent tostairway on the ground floor, so that they can experience the full height of thevolume from there. By placing concrete block fence along the site border wecreate semi-interior zone between the walls and the house, so that the interiorspace is visually extended to the full extent of the site.
We also want to provide various conditions of light on each floor. On the groundfloor the entire space is illuminated with indirect light coming from abovethrough the semi-interior zone and stairway, creating soft and diffused effectlike artificial lighting. On the contrary they can enjoy direct natural lightcoming in from windows on the second and third floors.