Promenade House

Even by Japanese standards, a land where literally millions upon millions of people live on top of each other, the dimensions of this project may seem astonishing. Located in Shiga, near Kyoto, the build site is a staggeringly narrow four metres with the internal width of the house being a little over two and a half metres. The house does make some ground back being twenty-seven metres long but even so the architects have had to devise very clever ways of breaking up the space to ensure that the needs of the young family who reside there are met. With such a narrow site, the first challenge was always going to be light distribution. Small windows on the ground level that run along the floor allow light to flood in and give privacy to the kitchen and living area while above the stairs a top light allows light to filter down to the levels below and along the hallways.
Two striking green walls are utilised at each end of the building to draw the eye and promote the unique geometry of the building and guide people as they move through the two hallways that break off from the central stair. With the bedrooms and a bathroom on this level as well as the study on the level below, the design of this house, though restricted, definitely meets the needs of the clients and shows that creativity can be achieved in even the most difficult build sites.

Story by Brendan Guy .To see more by FORM /  Kouichi Kimura  Architects  Photos courtesy of  FORM / Kouichi Kimura Architects