Architecture studio Sinato raised the ceiling level inside this Japanese apartment to create a mezzanine reading space that can be glimpsed by means of a narrow opening .
The wooden platform adds an extra space in the modest Fujigaoka T apartment in Kanagawa, bringing its region up to 68 square metres, whilst the supporting columns function to subdivide the current space.
Sinato’s Chikara Ohno was asked to renovate the house for a loved ones of three.
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Following studying the current structural drawings, the Tokyo-based architect realised the suspended ceiling height of 2.4 metres was dictated by the placement of services above some places, but that the slab was much larger.
“The overall strategy is decided by the position of the higher-ceiling places,” explained the studio in a statement.
Only portion of the ceiling could be raised, but this created a massive sufficient cavity for the pale timber mezzanine to sit inside.
The posts supporting the platform provide the framework for new walls that surround two bedrooms and a study space on the lower level.
The extra metre of ceiling height enables two-metre-high ceilings in the bedrooms, whilst the new storey above has 1.4 metres of head height.
The mezzanine is partially concealed behind a section of green-painted ceiling containing the cabling and pipes that service the apartment. The only exposed pipework has been coated in glossy white paint.
A gap amongst the mezzanine floor and the supporting walls permits light to penetrate the space from below and offers residents glances down into the hallway beneath.
“Deep in the elevated totally free space, the floor is interrupted before it joins the exterior wall, producing a little void for air movement from the window in the space under,” said the team.
A wooden ladder leads upstairs via an inlet off the hallway and ascends up through a square hole in the floor.
The bedrooms and study are open to the hall, where a extended wooden bench spans the front of a closet with wooden doors.
“We are hoping that the space connected by this strange shaped strategy and section can function as an environment that accepts the different distances of the family’s every day life,” mentioned the studio.
At the end of the corridor, the ceiling level lifts back up to generate a generous space for the open-strategy kitchen and living region.
Photography is by Toshiyuki Yano.
Floor strategy – and key 
Sections – and key
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