atelier A5: A.house

'A.house' by atelier A5 in zenpukuji, suginami-ku, tokyo japan
images courtesy of atelier A5 / © kenichi suzuki


japanese architects, atelier A5 have designed 'A.house', a single family home located in downtown tokyo, japan.
the required functions of the combination live / work environment dictated the evolution and design of the
residence which was also bound by local regulations for the site.

the gradually shifting stacked cubes relate to the programmatic function it accommodates, reducing in size as the use
of the space becomes more private. housed on the ground floor is a gallery for the homeowner - a jewelry designer -
followed by the living room, dining room and kitchen on the first floor and a small bedroom with an adjoining
private terrace on the second floor.






looking into the ground floor gallery


in order to maintain privacy from the dense neighborhood, the majority of the windows were moved from the
walls on to the ceiling where they appear as slits that are cut from the structure. sunlight filters in from above,
defining the perimeter of the room and consuming the area left unused by the offset volumes.



gallery


corrugated steel cladding unites the three structures, which are only momentarily interrupted by select and simplified
openings. inside, materialization is kept to a minimum, utilizing only wood, concrete and the color white
to create space that endlessly flow from one to another. 



gallery



living room, dining room, kitchen 



living room, dining room, kitchen 



bedroom and terrace



detail of staircase



lavatory



exterior



floor plan / level 0



floor plan / level 1



floor plan / level 2



section


project info:

architects: sadahiro shimizu, masatoshi matsuzaki, yuko shimizu structural engineers: hayata matou
site area: 82.22sqm
building area: 43.47sqm
total floor area: 88.06sqm
structure: wood structure