Meguro-ku House, Contemporary Tokyo Residence, New Home in Japan, Design, Property

Small House, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

Japanese Residence – design by Hiroyuki Unemori, architects

8 Mar 2012

Small House in Meguro-ku

Design: Hiroyuki Unemori

The small house which the married couple and their child live stands at the densely populated area in Tokyo. Though the neighboring houses is very close, I aimed to design the house which exceed the physical narrowness living at the city.

I laid out the 4m×4m building that as small as I can at the center of site area 34m2 and made some space for flowing of light and wind around it. And by making the space, it’s possible to avoid setback regulation and it has the 9m high volume like a tower. The inside is simple structure what is separated by the 4 floor boards and is jointed by spiral stairway. Especially, by making some extremely thin floor boards (thickness 70mm), the up and down floor boards got close and connected the whole space of the house without a break.

The space of around the house is useful to let light and wind in. The wall of the rooms borders the outside, so I put windows in the best position that harmonizing with its surroundings. And the window is so big against the small room, every time the window opens or closes, the inside view dramatically changes. Especially, at the second and third floor there is a large hinged door each room, if it is opened, the inside of the room is enveloped in light and wind as if you are outside.

By making the thin floor boards for connecting with their life and making the large windows what are opened toward the city, I aimed to exceed the segmentation, for example the up stair and the down stair, the inside and the outside, a building and the town, etc… to broaden the whole image of a house.

Small House Meguro-ku – Building Information

Location: Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Principal use: private residence
Family type: couple＋child
Site area: 34.27 m2
Building area: 17.47 m2
Total floor area: 67.34 m2
Structural systems: steel frame
Scale: 1 basement and 4 stories
Completion: Aug 2010
Materials:
exterior wall / flexible board t=8mm siding water-repellent coating
roof / FRP waterproof t=3mm topcoat
interior wall / whiteboard t=3mm
ceiling / lauan plywood t=4mm CL
floor / lauan plywood t=12mm UC
architect: UNEMORI ARCHITECTS
Structural engineer: Structured Environment

Photographs: Ken Sasajima

Profile – Hiroyuki Unemori
1979:Born in Okayama Prefecture
1999: Graduated from Yonago National College of Technology
2002: Graduated from Yokohama National University
2002-05: Worked at TAIRA NISHIZAWA ARCHITECS (at attending University)
2005: Completed the Master Course,Yokohama National University
2005-09: Worked at TAIRA NISHIZAWA ARCHITECS
2009-: Established UNEMORI ARCHITECS

Small House Meguro-ku images / information from Hiroyuki Unemori

Location: Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan