House In Nishi-eifuku

HOUSE IN NISHI-EIFUKU

KIRI Architects

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai

ARCHITECTS
KIRI Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Keisuke Kiri

MANUFACTURERS 
AutoDesk, Grohe, Sanwa

TRANSLATOR
Hideto Chijiwa

CONTRACTOR
BEANS Limited

PHOTOGRAPHS
Anna Nagai

AREA
77 m²

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Japan

CATEGORY
Houses, Renovation

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai

Text description provided by architect.

House renovation project within a residential district in Tokyo. As the ground-floor of the 2-storey two-family house remains occupied by Client mother’s residence, the scope of renovation was limited to the upper floor.

The project manifests as a result of a simple approach of repetitive piercing of the existing building.

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai
House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai

Parting from its previous 3-bedroom apartment densely subdivided layout, by piercing the building - various openings of diverse proportion allow the space to be loosely connected as one.

At certain places, vista of the street opens up past the entire the living quarter, while other places become sheltered by fragments of walls.

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai
House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai

Constant reassessment of depth can be felt as one moves through the space.

By removing the old ceiling and addition of a new skylight, stream of natural light reveals the new spatial framework of the walls.

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai
House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai

South-facing wall is completely replaced by timber-framed glass façade pushed out to the line of eaves – allowing natural light deep into the living space and creating an almost exterior-like engawa space by the window.

Natural light here is a medium to further illuminate the chiaroscuro of various spatial depth created by the repetitive piercing of the building.

Although connected, the informal familiarity of division is made possible within the complex layering of depth – a play to which we can imagine a scenery of the contemporary.

House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai
House In Nishi-eifuku
© Anna Nagai


House In Nishi-eifuku
Plan
House In Nishi-eifuku
Wall Diagram