Japanese studio YUUA Architects &amp Associates has slotted a property into a two.five-metre-wide area among two current buildings in Tokyo.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

The rooms of the four-storey-higher residence have a width of just 1.8 metres, consequently its name: one.8m Width Property. This forced Madoka Aihara and Toshiyuki Yamazaki – the two principals of YUUA Architects and Associates – to program the interior extremely carefully.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

Their response was to use split-level floors to generate normal partitions amongst distinct spaces. This lowered the require for walls inside the house, assisting to make tiny rooms really feel far more generous.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

“In this undertaking, we have considered the house as an aggregation of modest ‘places’ and designed a room the place such ‘places’ expanded in different floor levels,” explained the pair. “Floating floors in lengthy and narrow room create the spatial expanse.”

The house accommodates a single resident and a cat in Toshima Ward, the densest municipality in central Tokyo. Like the central areas of a lot of Japanese cities, the lack of area has resulted in an enhance in narrow houses – referred to as eel’s beds or nests.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

The largest situation with these kinds of properties is making certain plenty of light penetrates the interior, which is why architects usually incorporate double-height living spaces and high-level windows in their designs. Recent examples consist of a 3.4-metre-broad residence in Osaka and a 2.seven-metre-wide home in Shiga.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

“This small and narrow piece of land is a standard ‘eel’s bed’ site, where a single can reach his or her arm from the left wall to the right wall, as buildings stand really tight and compact subsequent to one an additional,” explained the architects.


Relevant story: Kakko House by Yoshihiro Yamamoto is a 3.four-metre-wide house in Japan


“We have attempted to reserve as a lot area as achievable as effectively as to supply psychological openness for the resident. Light and fresh air, which has been taken in from openings in the frontage and upper side of the building, flows into each and every corner of the property, utilising the floor variation.”

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

There are 4 major storeys inside the developing, each divided into two floors. A staircase at the back connects the 3 uppermost ranges, even though tiny sets of stairs in the centre of the creating generate routes between the decrease floors.

Both staircases comprise steel treads without having supporting risers, which let light to filter by way of. Slender handrails run down alongside.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

Alternatively of employing a light colour scheme, the inner walls have been painted dark to “give a sense of depth” to the area, while floors and ceilings were covered in scaffolding boards to provide texture.

This adds emphasis to the window wall that fronts the building – it becomes the focal point on every single storey.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

The occupant shares the home with a cat. The main living area is on the 2nd floor, the place a kitchen counter extends out to generate a dining table. It also supplies a platform for a ladder leading up to terraces on the level over and the roof.


Related content material: see more stories about skinny homes


A loft space, a washroom and a bathroom are also located above the living room. The bedroom and a study space can be located on the degree below, and the lowest floor functions as a storage spot.

The house has a steel frame, but there are number of traces of this inside the constructing.

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp Associates

“The structural design and style was created by totally thinking about the singularity of the constructing form,” said Aihara and Yamazaki. “Columns and beams were limited to maximise the interior room.”

Skinny houses have also turn out to be more and more well-known outside Japan, with recently finished projects which includes a 3-metre-broad house in Germany and a two.three metre-wide property in London.

Photography is by Sobajima, Toshihiro.


Undertaking credits:

Architects: Madoka Aihara &amp Toshiyuki Yamazaki/YUUA Architects and Associates
Structural engineer: Hirotsugu Tsuboi Structural Engineers
Constructor: EIKEN

1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp AssociatesFloor strategies 1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp AssociatesPart 1.8 metre wide house by YUUA Architects &amp AssociatesElevation Dezeen

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