Light Well

｜DATA

• Design: Hirotaka Sato, Shintaro Takeda
• Site: Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• Use: Private housing
• Scale: wooden structure with three floors above ground
• Site area: 67.49m2
• Building area: 40.12m2
• Total floor area: 101.27m2
• Structure: Koji Tsuboi Structural Design Office
• Completion: 2011.12
• Construction: Enaka Construction
• Photo: Hirotaka Sato

｜CONCEPT

A three-story wooden house built on a narrow site in the city center.
Due to the extremely dense location, where houses are lined up at intervals of about 60 cm, light is effectively guided inside by skylights and high sidelights.

In terms of plan, a glass-enclosed staircase is placed in the center, creating a sense of openness by allowing the line of sight to pass up and down, creating a space where families can easily communicate.

When you open the front door, you can see the living room on the second floor, the skylight, and the clear northern sky through the stairwell in front of you.
By reducing the floor height of the first floor to 1900mm, the continuity between the entrance and the living room on the second floor is strengthened, increasing the sense of openness.
When you go up to the 2nd floor guided by the light pouring into the staircase, you will reach the bright and spacious LDK.
The 2nd and 3rd floors have a continuous slanted ceiling, and the light from the high side of the 3rd floor loft flows along the slanted ceiling into the living room on the 2nd floor.
The third floor, which serves as the family's study, has a slanted ceiling that diffuses light evenly, creating a space filled with light.