The couple that occupy this combined residence and workspace in Tokyo each have their personal domain – downstairs is a salon for a hairdresser, even though upstairs includes a workspace for a author .
Developed by Kosuke Suzuki and Hisako Yamamura of Suzuki Architects, the 80-square-metre home is a simple cuboidal structure with timber-clad walls, hence the name Wooden Box House.
It is situated in a residential neighbourhood in Kawaguchi, on the northern outskirts of the city – an spot where other latest tasks include a renovated property by Schemata Architects and a property with a trellis-inspired roof by Apollo Architects.
The clients requested a constructing that would allow them to each live and perform concurrently. Suzuki and Yamamura felt the ideal way to obtain this would be to give them every single their very own floor and their very own big bedroom.
Connected story: Cohta Asano divides Japanese hair salon with diamond-shaped partitions
The hairdresser’s salon occupies the front half of the ground-floor area, although the somewhat elevated rear half gives her a big bedroom with wardrobes working all the way along one particular wall.
A sliding wall produced up of numerous panels enables the two rooms to be revealed to 1 another. Shopfront-type glazing offers a view in from the street, although glazed walls at the back open the bedroom out to a tiny personal terrace.
“When the windows are open, wind goes by means of the massive area below the eaves,” said the architects. “Lively pursuits arising here will add power to the town.”
The writer’s bedroom is at the back of the upper level, and also functions a wall that slides back and forth for privacy. Here, the wardrobes are rather tucked away in a corner, freeing up the primary wall for shelves in which loads of books can be stored.
Glazing along the rear wall extends the room out to a single of the building’s two balconies. A writing desk can be positioned against the glass, giving views out in excess of a neighbouring garden.
In front of the bedroom, a communal kitchen and dining area leads out to a less-personal 2nd balcony dealing with the street.
“This architecture has a basic prepare reflecting the couple’s lifestyles,” said Suzuki and Yamamura. “A dining kitchen serves as a buffer [in between] their lives.”
The constructing has a timber framework, and its exterior is clad in vertical lengths of wood that the architects think will give “taste and warmth” above time. Inside, wood was also employed for flooring, apart from in the salon, which has a concrete ground surface.
When the salon is open, buyers can merely stroll in via the facade. Otherwise, the building’s entrance is on the side wall, sheltered beneath a slender cantilevered canopy.
Suzuki established his studio in 2011 after a seven-12 months spell functioning for Tezuka Architects. Yamamura joined him in 2014.
Photography is by Kenta Hasegawa.
Project credits:
Architects: Suzuki Architects – Kosuke Suzuki, Hisako Yamamura
Structural layout: Seiji Ohkawa
Construction: Property Builder
Website strategy 
Ground floor program 
First floor plan
