Torafu Architects Inc.

House in Kitaoji

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano

HOUSE IN KITAOJI

Torafu Architects

AREA
134 m²

YEAR
2012

PHOTOGRAPHS
Daici Ano

LIGHTING DESIGN
Daiko

FURNITURE
interoffice

STRUCTURAL DESIGN PRODUCTION
Kyoto kensetsu

STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Takashi Manda

LOCATION
Kyoto, Japan

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

Located in a quiet housing estate in Kyoto, this house was designed with a hard concrete outer shell in order to protect the client need for privacy from the outside, as well as for accessibility in a wheelchair- bound lifestyle.

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano

Firstly, to protect the privacy of the family, we built walls along the site boundary to elevate the main living space, which is maximised on the 2nd floor.

We designed a large central space with individual rooms, wet areas and circulation and other utility spaces surrounding it, to ensure a distance is kept well from the outside.

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano

This compact formation also eliminated the need for passageways in this house. In contrast with the outer wall of this building, we used various kinds of furniture at the central space as partitions to softly separate the internal areas.

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano

Avoiding windows along the road, we located spaces with open ceilings and a terrace inside the building for light and ventilation. This way, the occupants can feel the outside anywhere from within this central space.

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano

Considering the environment of the site resulted in a building with a gabled form. We folded the roofs of the small rooms around the central space into the yard to achieve a funnel shaped cross section, which allows light to enter easily into centre of the house. We also individualised the rooms by giving each a different ceiling height.

Although unseen from the outside, within the spaces of these different rooms under this big roof, a bright and open space was made possible.

House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano


House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano
House in Kitaoji
© Daici Ano


House in Kitaoji
First Floor Plan

House in Kitaoji
Second Floor Plan


House in Kitaoji
Section A
House in Kitaoji
Section B

Torafu Architects Inc.
T +81 3 54987156 F +81 35 4986156
Torafu Architects Inc.
1-9-2-2F, Koyama, Shinagawa-Ku, Tokyo, Zip Code 142-0062, Japan