A cuboidal form, with an area of around 60 sqm, shapes the Building Frame of the House, designed by Japanese architecture practice, IGArchitects, for a married couple in Tokyo. Separated only by vertical ledges, the private residence is described by the designers as “one big room”. Since the pandemic blurred the distinction between the private space of the home and workspaces, people have shown an inclination for flexible home layouts where areas can be turned into home offices when needed. With a large number of young professionals opting to work from the comfort of their homes, minimal utilitarian layouts and comfortable multipurpose designs for residences, which allow for relaxation as well as productivity, have been preferred.

An issue that evolving metropolises like Tokyo face is the scarcity of land to house, a constant influx of migrants, leading to a rise in land prices, and eventually rents. By using often overlooked, largely unusable land parcels as urban infill projects to create a denser urban fabric especially near urban centres, some of the pressure on housing development can be relieved. The question here always becomes, how can designers work with inherent space constraints to create residential architecture that doesn’t feel like a compromise?

As the architects describe, the clients’ brief stipulated that the design should allow them the freedom to work in any space, whilst being aware of the other person in the house. To accommodate their minimal needs on the compact site, the designers opted not to create partitions but instead created spaces using the floor, external walls and staircase designs. By incorporating floor-to-ceiling glazing and skylights, they also ensured that a light, airy atmosphere was created despite the thick concrete walls.

With the design of Building Frame, IGArchitects propose a unique model that relies on volume rather than area for a structure that creates a unique flexible interaction between the interior spaces, and a porous relationship between the inside and outside. Each space in the house is designed to allow for multiple functionalities, as conducive for the working couple.

On the ground floor, as one enters, they are greeted by a foyer that feels spacious due to the design of the floor divisions and a down step creates a distinction between the entry and the communal space. The south wall, which has no openings, includes a bookshelf, which runs from the ground to the top level. The framework of the bookshelf fits like a jigsaw puzzle into the staircase beside it, which leads to the mezzanine level, which incorporates a kitchen. The subtle differentiation of spaces on the ground floor is compensated by adding extra storage space in the voids.

Moving up from the kitchen, on the next ‘level’ which is 1.6m up, a sleeping area has been designated on the western side of the cuboid. This allows the designers to incorporate a glazing wall for the space, allowing natural light to filter in. Two stairways lead up from the intermediate level which connects to the sleeping space. One leads to the washroom, and the other leads to a balcony ledge with a floor-to-ceiling glazing wall. This glass façade on the western side brings in the most sunlight which then percolates through the cascading levels, ensuring the spaces on lower levels do not feel dingy.

Even a difference of 450mm in the section has been accounted for by the designers, turning such steps into seating. As they write in a press release, “Almost no place has a dedicated use…This simple structure of offsetting walls and laying floors at different heights allows them to interact with each other, which makes it possible to create an openness that seems much more than the actual total floor area of 60m2.” Apart from the play of spaces, the interior design is minimal, contrasting the concrete architecture with textured wood, a combination often seen in modernist Japanese design.

Reminiscent of famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando's early 2000s project, the 4X4 House, which separated each function of a private residence on a different level, the design for the Building Frame of the House does not separate different spaces with partitions. Instead by juxtaposing them within a larger volume, it creates a space that feels larger than it is. Not only does the residential design maximise functionality, but it also prioritises the needs of the people it is built for.

Project Details

Name: Building Frame of the House
Year of Completion: 2023
Built Area: 59.88sqm
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Design team:
Lead Architect: Masato Igarashi
Structural Engineering: Yousuke Misaki EQSD
Collaborators:
Lighting: Eri Nagao ModuleX Inc.
Production Hardware: Susumu Murata KAMO CRAFT 
Construction: Masanobu Arata ARATA KENCHIKU KOBO