Floating Nest

Originally built as a three-story reinforced concrete structure under outdated seismic codes, the residence was too large for a single-family household, with many unused rooms and poor insulation.

2) improving the insulation of the building envelope to reduce thermal loads, and 3) consolidating essential rooms onto the first and second floors, effectively transforming it into a two-story house.

While minimizing external alterations—limited to waterproofing, tile repair, and window upgrades—the design prioritized interior transformation. The original floors were partially removed to create a large, three-dimensional common space.

The nest contains four private rooms and a corridor, all facing the central void, enabling light, air, and visual connections throughout the house.

An "inner veranda" acts as an intermediate space, connecting private rooms with the common area and allowing family members to sense each other's presence despite physical separation.

The breakthrough came from reinterpreting the existing structure not as an obstacle, but as an environmental element. This led to the parasitic design of the nest, likened to a bird's nest or mistletoe, harmonizing with the host frame and floating within the shared volume.

As society faces population decline, aging demographics, and energy constraints, the adaptive reuse of reinforced concrete buildings is increasingly critical.

The design process involved observing the site, listening to the client's needs, and identifying subtle distortions between architectural and social conditions.

These distortions became the starting points for discovering meaningful space—spaces that respond not only to immediate needs, but also to broader societal shifts.