Table Hat: Peacefully designed cafe built around nature

Table Hat is an extension of a two-story wooden house designed by Hiroyuki Shinozaki Architects on a peaceful residential street in Odawara city, Kanagawa, Japan. The extended part was planned for a small cafe of 532 square feet and residence. The basic structure is built up with ten wooden big-size tables with 42mm-thick flames and 9mm-thick plywood top panel. Each of them with different sizes and heights create various spaces below with suitable furniture, lighting and plants. A connection of ten tables looks like they are being floated on a 250mm-thick concrete slab which stands 1.8 meters higher from the foundation around the residence.

There are tables, chairs and roof which covers them and this place becomes cafe when a freshly poured cup of coffee comes. This primitive scene is considered as a structure for making this architecture. Each space offers a place for reading, gathering, having a view of trees outside and so on. Taking small scales of furniture in cafe as foot in the door for planning, all the places including boundary of inside and outside are gradually separated but are connected and shares this place at the same time. It is a cafe like a park in a peaceful residential street where people chose a favorite place and take a cup of coffee for relaxing.

Photos: Kai Nakamura

House T: Residence and atelier in the center of Tokyo

This residence and atelier for a couple in the center of Tokyo, Japan has been designed by Hiroyuki Shinozaki Architects. Floor like bookshelf plates are placed at different levels in the shifted box. Furniture is placed on each floor to create living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom. Each plate-like-floors are only hooked by columns which are three-dimensionally intersected at the middle of the box and this simple structure gives latitude for space composition. In massive volume of the box, each different activity of daily living has taken place at each floor with open views. Light fixtures have been hung from the top of the box till they reach the floors to illuminate them, such as a floating stage. A small 753 square foot residence with big furniture showcases living on the stage.

Photos: Hiroyasu Sakaguchi, Tatsumi Terado

Cylindrical house reminiscent of a yurt in Japan

Reminiscent of a yurt, a white cylindrical house in Chiharada, Japan leans towards the traditional Japanese vernacular (light minimalist spaces) but replaces the more customary straight lines with curves. Japan-based architects Studio Velocity were instructed to design a house for a couple and their two children on a unique site in Japan – next to the children’s grandmother who lives in a more mature dwelling adjacent to the new house.

In a space that was previously used for storage and a garage, the new house challenges traditional housing conventions – having the bedrooms on the ground floor and lifting the living areas to the first. What’s more is that this compact house has not one, but four stairwells which emerge at different heights within the rounded form. These box-shaped insertions divide the spaces and create different levels and areas.

Multiple stairways are a unique component to the house, extending the architect’s appeal towards continuous living spaces: ‘By eliminating the discontinuity between multiple floors, you can create a continuous living environment,’ states the architects. Windows are placed at different heights within the stairwells, creating opportunities for light and visual connectivity to other spaces. The curvaceous exterior assists the spread of light inside through its reflective persona, promoted by skylights which allow light to drop into the double height living spaces on the upper floor.

In order to gain space from the the old building architects have opted for a round form, arranging it atop an irregular hill. The terrain creates little gardens around the curved perimeter of the house that can be directly accessed from each of the small rooms on the ground floor.

The only large room, the living room, overlooks the entire house from the first floor. The ground floor and the first floor are relatively close, with a low ceiling that divides the two levels. When the central staircase is open, the gardens can also be seen from the top level.

“The intention behind this project,” state the architects, “has been to make people able to perceive the earth and the sky at the same time and from anywhere, even if it is a multi-story building.”

Photos: Courtesy of Studio Velocity

Uniquely structured narrow dwelling in Japan

House in Byobugaura is a family home for a couple and their two children, situated in Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan designed by Takeshi Hosaka Architects. Located on a narrow plot of land of only 60 square meters, the architects could only build a footprint of just 30 square meters. To add additional space to the home, they built a basement floor and added two levels above ground floor per 30 square meters. The floors were designed to curve near all of the windows, allowing natural light and air to penetrate throughout all of the floors, particularly at basement level. This move increases the total floor area by a third.

In this open plan architecture, beautifully made furniture sits in the space as objects in a landscape. The pieces within this “roomscape” divide the space without the need for walls, but they also add warmth, as they are detailed in polished timber along with the floor finishes. Together they provide a textural contrast with the insitu concrete walls and soffit.

A steel spiral stair brings a more flamboyant sculptural sparkle to an admirably restrained space and where the circular hole for the stair cuts through the curved floor, a deformed circle is created that gives a tactile edge to the concrete. It just makes you want to touch it.

The exterior front and rear exterior elevations are simple. Three equal bands of glazing suggest a three-story building. It is only the heavily curved soffit that gives any indication that much of the space is actually below ground.

Photos: Koji Fujii Nacasa&Partners Inc

Crescent House with fabulous views of Mt. Fuji

Crescent House is a vacation home located on the slope of south Hakone Villa residence area in Atami, Japan. Designed by world renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, the home offers uninterrupted scenic views of Mt.Fuji. Standing in the site, in order not to allow people to look at east, west and south sides, the idea that the crescent-shaped plan which opens up to north corresponding to the site and the cross section which looks like the “C” character( the “U” character which falls down) naturally comes up to mind right away.

In the crescent-shaped plan, there is 1,983 square feet (184 square meters) of living space with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living, dining and kitchen area, all arranged by putting furniture and volumes of utility facilities as partitions. The center of the crescent-shaped plan has a huge cantilevered roof since the cross section of that area is the deepest because of used as a living area. Although a column became necessary in order to prevent the roof from bending, a chimney of fireplace is used instead of it.

What do you think of this incredible home we discovered on Sotheby’s International Realty? It is currently listed for sale at $2,258,050 from here.

A unique compact dwelling in Okazaki

The Montblanc House has been designed by Studio Velocity and is situated in the quite residential neighborhood of Okazaki, Japan. The home has been designed with a small beauty shop on the first floor and a home for a young family of four on the upper level. The site is confined by neighboring houses and apartments so the architect was challenged with designing a home with an open space within a tightly enclosed site. The building has a large inclined roof with continuous exterior spaces from all three levels. Five large openings in the roof bring in plenty of natural light and air, as well as scenery.

Here is a project description from the architect, “the windows, as “voids,” lacking sashes, have a totally different scale from the windows of the neighboring houses. That’s why there is a wondrous scale around the area as if the model had been enlarged.  One encounters “outside” at various points as you walk upstairs since the semi-exterior spaces are connected and gently covered with a large luminous roof. I hope to create a diversity of “exteriors” with the various angles and heights of the site, appropriately hiding away the views from the neighboring sites, as well as a sense of the neighboring houses’ existence.”

Visit the website of Studio Velocity here.

Photos: Kentaro Kurihara

Narrow Japanese home with voluminous interiors

The OH House has been designed by Japanese architectural firm Atelier Tekuto (Yasuhiro Yamashita), built on an irregularly shaped lot that is 1.5 meters lower than the road. The residence takes its name from the family who will live in it, accommodating a total of 6 people, three of Mr. Oh’s immediate family, his parents and sister. The main priority regarding the house’s design was accommodating a parking space for a car. Atelier Tekuto created one with a web-like steel material, where light can filter from the web onto the underground level. Looking up from this area, the car appears almost as if it is floating.

Because having a parking space within the limited lot was a priority, Atelier Tekuto positioned the house’s entrance on the underground level, beside the stairs leading up from where the car is housed. Upon entering the house, there is a flight of stairs to the family area with two bedrooms and a bathroom at the far side. Another part of the design was to make sure action within the house was unseen from the exterior.

“Even though we answered the client’s request to avoid being seen from the outside, we still made the windows as big as possible. How to place windows is very important for a building,” says Yamashita. The space incorporates suspended furniture within an open concept design which maximizes the usage of the limited space. The ground floor has a wide space in which the family’s dining table hangs from the ceiling. “Upon entering a space, human eyes unconsciously measure distance from perpendicular lines,” says Yamashita. “Thus the OH residence has multi-sided ceilings. This multi-sided interior volume surprises people by feeling bigger inside than the outside.” Via

Visit the website of Atelier Tekuto here.

Photos: Toshihiro Sobajima

Pristine retreat on the Ooigawa River

HOSHINOYA Kyoto brings its mingling of modernity and antiquity to Arashiyama, Kyoto’s most pristine retreat. Here, the authentic Ryokan experience is complemented with a discerning eye for design, structure, and most of all, comfort. Here in Kyoto Japan, if culture doesn’t actually grow on trees, it certainly is made of them. Dark, rich wood is the substrate of choice when building traditional Ryokans (secluded Japanese retreats), creating a habitat that blends easily with the surrounding natural flora.

Twenty-five guestrooms look out to the Ooigawa River and groves of gnarled trees and shrubs, all in vibrant shades of green, red or brown — depending on the season. Rooms are decorated in 17th-century the Sukiya style, and dressed in Japanese paper patterning. Low benches and various local antiques add essential character to these otherwise minimal spaces.

Carefully considered breakfast is served in the comfort of your room in American, Continental or Japanese style. Dinner is modern Japanese, and leverages seasonal ingredients from the surrounding wilds. After any meal, its best practice to retire and digest in either the modern library or traditional water garden. Of course, while in Kyoto, it’s critical to get outside the confines of your home away from home. Bamboo forests, Rickshaw tours and garden Kimono walks all wait just down the misty path from HOSHINOYA Kyoto.

To stay at this fabulous retreat, at a nightly rate of $767 USD, click here.

Nowhere but Sajima seaside vacation residence

‘Nowhere but Sajima’ by Japanese firm Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects, is a vacation residence located an hour distance from Tokyo in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is a rare site situated adjacent to the ocean and Mount Fuji and Enoshima can be seen on the opposite shore. Constructed with reinforced concrete the three storey, 7,405 square foot (688 square meters) residence features windows of all different shapes and sizes. The side facing towards the ocean is the northern area, and a road with a row of condominiums and heavy traffic run by its side. While the large building aperture enables an open view to the ocean, it also draws all the attention from the road and condominiums. Several tubes are connected to form one room, and conversely, one tube is shared by two rooms. Via

Visit the website of Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects here.

To provide adequate privacy without the use of curtains, narrow tube-shaped spaces were bundled together and angled to provide openings toward the sea.

The building juts out onto the Pacific Ocean, as if suspended over water.

The lounge.

The lounge and kitchen area.

Views looking out onto the ocean.

A sliding bookshelf provides privacy between rooms.

Opening directly onto the ocean, the living quarters on the ground floor flow across four of the tubes.

Sunlight passes through the circular hole on the third floor and seeps in softly between furniture and the ceiling, so there is no need to light any lamps during the daytime.

The bathroom overlooking the water.

Photos:  Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects

Brilliant design in this narrow River Side House

Today’s remarkable home is one of our personal favorites to present to you on 1 Kind Design. Not only is this incredible dwelling unique, but the solution to the small space design is clean, minimalistic and brilliant. This very small house of 594 square feet (55.25 square meters) in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan was built on a triangle site which the river and the way were crossed and made to an acute angle. The residents of this small dwelling called ‘River Side House’ are a husband and wife and a little girl. Although it was a novel site of a limited area of 561 square feet (52.15 square meters), since a river was faced through a bank and a promenade, architecture firm Mizuishi Architects Atelier wished to build various relations with the river.

The 312 square foot (29.07 square meters) building is formed at an acute angle, part on a triangle plan derived from the site. Furthermore, maximum volume was given to the home with the design of a hip roof of three planes. Although the ground level was a private space incorporating the bedroom and bathroom, a curtain is used for dividing the door and the stairs and a separate curtain to cover the storage. The second level is divided into small areas by structural narrow walls, being connected with one by the ridgeline of a roof. So there are different open feelings, with each space having a relationship to the river.

1. Dining & Kitchen: The west side space up the stairs is the largest planarly, and has high ceilings with a feeling of rise towards the roof top.

2. Living: This central space has a low ceiling, and fully operable windows on both sides with a small balcony and bay windows that spreads outward with a feeling of floating.

3. Spare room: The east side space in the deepest in form which is narrowed down to the direction of flow of the river, and is a space where the light filters in in the earlier part of the day.

4. Loft: The space has two skylights, it looks down at the river and up at the sky. Via

Visit the website of Mizuishi Architects Atelier here.

Photos: ©Hiroshi Tanigawa