2025
Small Potter House
Renovation / Design Supervision
Scale: 2-story wooden structure, 63.13 m²
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Use: Residence
Completion Photography: Yoko Hosokawa
This 45-year-old wooden house, located just steps from a local train station on the Chūō Line, was inherited from the grandmother and renovated to become the home of her granddaughter and her husband, both ceramic artists. The building faces a private road less than two meters wide, which used to be an open waterway and was later covered. The house had deteriorated significantly over the years due to lack of maintenance, barely standing at the time of the project.
Initially, the clients were hesitant about a full-scale renovation. However, encouraged by the favorable location and the availability of a municipal subsidy for a detailed seismic assessment, they gradually developed an awareness of the value in "preserving" and "utilizing" the existing structure.
The building has a narrow footprint—3.4 meters wide by 9 meters deep—with limited natural light and ventilation. Moisture had caused significant deterioration, particularly on the first floor.
The renovation began by establishing a continuous ceramics workspace at the entrance. By allowing the creative activity to spill slightly into the private road, a modest liveliness is expected to emerge in the surrounding area. The first-floor wet areas were consolidated at the center of the plan, integrating seismic walls to provide both structural reinforcement and gentle privacy for the rear area. Relocating the staircase near the entrance reorganized the circulation and allowed natural light to penetrate deeper into the interior.
On the second floor, seismic walls were introduced while maintaining a unified space with a sloped ceiling. The design balances flexibility and privacy through the use of movable partitions.
During the design process, the client’s mother, who had lived in the house during her student years, shared vivid memories of living there with friends as a shared house and building a bar counter to enjoy life together. These stories were particularly striking. Such recollections helped redefine the spatial value of the home, and we could truly feel how a residence passed down through three generations was being reborn as a place of creation.
2024
Stacking the smallest units of housing to think about future lifestyles
Renovation work/basic design
Scale: 5-story reinforced concrete building (units 3-5, 677.44 m2)
Location: Kanagawa Prefecture
Use: Commercial facilities and apartment buildings
Collaborative design: Spatial Research Institute
Located where the commercial area in front of the station begins to blend with the residential area, the first and second floors of the building were previously used as shops, and the third to fifth floors as a women's dormitory. The plan is to renovate the upper floors into rental housing.
The existing dwelling units were one-room apartments with minimal bathroom facilities and a six-tatami room, each measuring 21.17 m². We decided to connect two of these units together, considering a dwelling configuration that would take advantage of the location's proximity to the station and accommodate a home-work/SOHO lifestyle where work and home are integrated.
Ultimately, four different types of housing are planned.
BIG KITCHEN
A large kitchen is located near the entrance, gently connecting to the diagonally arranged living room. The composition allows the line of sight to flow diagonally, creating a sense of depth while ensuring privacy. By placing the impressive kitchen at the center, it was intended to serve as a fountain of memories for the relatively short-term rental period.
BELT
Three strips of shelves of different heights run throughout the space, gently dividing it into four zones. The shelves adjust the line of sight and allow air to pass through, and also function as a desk or counter, while also providing a path for the cat to move around. This is a home that also takes living with pets into consideration.
TERRACE
The private rooms are surrounded by an L-shaped open earthen floor and veranda. The earthen floor near the entrance is an office space suitable for SOHOs, etc., and is connected to the living, dining, and kitchen area by a crank, gently dividing the space. The plan allows for a variety of uses as an intermediate area between inside and outside.
TWINS
The bathroom is concentrated in the center, with the space divided symmetrically on both sides. Two movable storage units have been installed, allowing the resident to adjust the character of the space depending on its purpose. Initially, the plan was to divide the SOHO and living spaces equally, but as the plan progressed, it became clear that the layout would also be suitable for living with a friend.
While making use of the existing scale, the residential units are designed to meet the diverse needs of future lifestyles.
2023
A one-room apartment with a corner room
New construction/basic design
Scale: 12-story reinforced concrete building, 1,593㎡
Location: Tokyo
Purpose: Apartment housing
Co-design: Okuyama Takashi Architects
The plan is for a one-room apartment for single people, about a five-minute walk from a private railway express station. Apparently, before a resident is decided on a lease agreement for a single apartment, the process goes from the building company → sales company → unit owner → resident, and the apartment is passed on like a relay baton. It is expected that the value standards sought in an apartment will differ depending on the stage. The sales company will likely seek a reasonable price and performance, while the unit owner will likely seek universal value in addition to that. Therefore, the apartments were arranged so that all would be "corner rooms" on a regular floor plan.
We believe that corner rooms are a common solution for ensuring the openness of a home while also ensuring the property's value for real estate sellers and owners.
The regular floor plan has two patterns of two dwelling units each. The rooms on the west side of the site are L-shaped, while those on the east side are snowman-shaped. In both cases, it is possible to arrange the furniture to suit each individual's lifestyle while still respecting the privacy of the bed space when guests come over.
The structure uses flat slabs and inverted beams, with a plan to minimize the number of beams protruding from the ceiling surface. The inverted beams create a deep waist-length wall on the perimeter, which is intended to be used for shelving and other purposes while maintaining a moderate level of privacy from the outside.
The plan was developed while seeking the optimal solution that would benefit all four parties: the seller, the buyer, the residents, the community, and each of the four apartments on each floor.
Creating a secure place to stay on the high floors of a floating city center
Custom Furniture Construction
Scale: 73 m² unit in a reinforced concrete apartment building
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Use: Residence
Construction: Kichi
This project involved designing custom-built furniture for a unit in a high-rise apartment in central Tokyo, with sweeping views of the cityscape below—office buildings, highways, and all.
As we visited the site several times for measurements, we began to notice the small, everyday scenes that made the place feel alive: neighbors chatting in the hallway, glimpses of remote work setups through doorways. It was a quiet reminder that, despite the impersonal appearance of high-rise buildings, each unit is filled with someone’s daily life. When the client told us about the unexpected way they ended up living here, we wanted to help turn this space into something that truly felt like home.
The furniture plan was simple and intentional: a bench by the window where you can sit and work on a laptop while enjoying the city view, a sofa that flows seamlessly from the bench, a display shelf fitted to the shape of the existing beams, a kitchen counter, and a dining table. Each piece doubles as storage and helps break up the uniformity of the room, creating comfortable spaces for both people and the things they live with—gently connecting all the elements together.
2022
A kitchen that serves as a base for your trip, surrounded by a variety of plants
Renovation work/design supervision
Scale: 7-story reinforced concrete building
Location: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
Use: Residence
Construction: Kichi
The client, who travels a lot while working, contacted us to say that he was working with carpenters to build a residence that would serve as a base in the city center.When we visited, we found that construction was in full swing on the first floor of an apartment building with a large garden.They had decided on a plan to surround the interior with a variety of plants both inside and out, and to display shelves for artwork, but the kitchen was the only thing they were having trouble envisioning.In the short time it took for the client, who is also an avid culinary expert, and his family to return from their travels, they thought about a kitchen, storage, and dining table that would allow them to spend warm and inviting times together.They used ready-made IKEA products for the kitchen and storage modules, and custom-made louvers, door finishes, and countertops to create a kitchen with a soft impression.The kitchen counter was also aligned in the direction facing the garden, so the layout naturally draws the eye in that direction.
Later, the client kindly treated us to bamboo shoots harvested during their trip and herbal tea from their garden. We enjoyed the seasonal flavors of both the trip and their base, and were delighted to have a kitchen that truly serves as the client's base, and we spent a heartwarming moment.
Utilizing a 50-year-old wooden house as a photo studio and gallery
Renovation work/basic design and detailed design
Size: 2-story wooden building , 92㎡
Location: Nakano Ward, Tokyo
Use: Photo studio/gallery
Structure: MOF
The plan is to renovate an old wooden house to be used as a photographer's studio, gallery, and workshop.
The site is located at the end of a cul-de-sac that winds around from the central ring road overpass . The surrounding area is densely packed, surrounded by a group of mid- to high-rise buildings facing the main road and a group of wooden houses on either side of the cul-de-sac. However, the back of the site faces a small park and opens up into the road. As a result, when you turn down the crowded road and enter the building at the end, you are greeted by a bright interior, which gives you a strange feeling of disappointment and relaxation.
Following this structure, a counter/kitchen and toilet are located near the entrance on the first floor, making use of the existing waterproof blockwork used in the wet areas. The back side facing the park is a gallery with a large atrium. By consolidating the small elements at the front of the building and narrowing the space, the atrium at the back/park side can be made to have an even greater sense of floating, as if it were a gaping opening into the park. On the second floor, as large a flat area as possible has been created to allow for simple work and photography.
The existing house was a 50-year-old wooden structure with a heavy tiled roof, and the results of a seismic assessment were severe. As a result, in addition to securing the usual wall area and repairing the foundation, we planned to reinforce the roof structure with two pairs of wooden beams and steel beams perpendicular to them, as well as braces, under the existing truss. This firmly fixed the roof and walls, ensuring the air volume required for the studio.
Considering building an apartment complex on the site of a former health spa
New construction/Joint proposal with TADAM
Size: 3-story reinforced concrete building , 432㎡
Location: Kanagawa Prefecture
Use: Stores and apartment buildings
The proposal was to utilize the site of a former health spa facility by building a 14-unit apartment complex and a laundry.
The site is located at a T-junction and is irregular and spacious. As it was originally a health spa, we proposed a housing complex where local people could drop in.
The first and second floors are divided into two in accordance with the shape of the site, with a common corridor for the apartment complex in the center and an alley on the east side. The apartments facing the alley are arranged with floor plans suitable for small businesses. As the third floor is faced with diagonal roads from two directions, it is set back, creating a large rooftop balcony and ensuring privacy. Additionally, a highly visible laundry was planned on the southwest corner facing the intersection.
The apartments range in size from 30 to 50 square meters, and the floor plan is designed to accommodate a variety of living styles, in anticipation of the coming era in which dwellings will be used in a more diverse manner, such as working from home or having a side job.
2021
Considering the standard of living through standard product development
Wellnesthome "Yohaku no Ie" product development
Takamatsu model house design supervision
Size: 2-story wooden building, 139 m2
Location: Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture
Use: Model house
Photo: SUSUMU TOMIZAWA
This standard product development marks the next step for a house manufacturer that has pursued high housing performance, including high airtightness, high insulation, optimum humidity, and high earthquake resistance.
In order to guarantee high airtightness and high insulation performance at a reasonable cost, there are restrictions on the opening area. Within this, an open living/dining/kitchen area that makes use of the roof slope is the standard, and sleeve walls and beam walls, which are necessary for structural calculations, are installed to give rhythm to the integrated space.
We also developed a semi-built kitchen, sink, private room storage, and entryway storage system that skillfully combines IKEA's ready-made modules, and we thought it would be possible for construction companies in various regions to install it at a stable price and with consistent quality.
The floor plan has nine different gabled floor plans with frontages of 2.5 or 3 houses, aiming to be adapted to the shape of the land.
Finally, operational rules were created. These included standardizing the thickness of baseboards and countertops, standardizing opening heights, and aligning the shape of air conditioning outlets to create a clean, unified space while still utilizing commercially available materials and pre-made products. These rules also broadened the landscape of living, including including a washbasin in the entrance closet, a study, an external bench, standards for selecting tree species, and suggestions for external spaces that utilize tubs.
This was a time when changes in the functionality required of homes were felt, particularly with the demand for remote work spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ability to wash hands immediately after returning home.
Standard housing is a type of housing built by different designers and builders in various regions. It is completed as a single product with both the goal of spreading the word while ensuring quality and incorporating future standards of living into the design.
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