Project: Tsubomi House
Architects: FLATHOUSE
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Area: 828 sq ft (floors), 280 sq ft (land)
Photographs by: Takumi Ota
Tsubomi House by FLATHOUSE
FLATHOUSE, a Japanese studio, have been very creative with the layout of the Tsubomi House in order to make it provide everything a family home should provide while only taking up 280 square feet of land.
They did this by spanning the home across seven levels with the family’s cookie shop business on the first floor.
By splitting the home up in multiple levels, they increased the area by almost four times which made it possible for each resident to have a private space when they need one.
Footprint of this house, including the biscuit shop that is part of the house, is only 26m2. The entire house is divided into seven split levels without partitions and all levels are connected by a staircase situated in the middle of the house. From the shop on the ground floor, this metal staircase connects the kitchen and the dining on 1.5 level, then the living space on 2 level, and finally the sleeping area on the top floor that is shared by all family members. A second set of concrete steps continue from the ground floor to the basement, housing the shop and its bathroom.
Every split level is small – there is barely enough space to place essential furniture. But each space feels sufficient and roomy. This is because all spaces are divided and isolated by different levels but connect one space from another. This gives a feel that each resident lives in multiple small spaces yet one large space simultaneously.
Almost all interior surfaces are made of larch plywood. Each panel is cut into parallelogram and laid out in herringbone pattern. This pattern is repeated on the ivory façade made of galvanized steel sheets and consistently applied to the exterior as well as the interior, evoking more three-dimensional experience. Today, people communicate, get information and watch television by mobile phone or smart phone in a public space, like inside train. Each family member already has his/her private media even without his/her own private room. So, no one feels the inconvenience.
