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House in Itabashi
House in Itabashi
Tokyo, Japan
Project Featured on Dec 30, 2025
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House in Itabashi
Tokyo, Japan
Project Featured on Dec 30, 2025
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2023
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
This house is located in a residential neighborhood not far from central Tokyo. On an extremely compact 70 square meter plot with a width of only 6 meters, we designed a three-story wooden home with a total floor area of 117 square meters for a family of four.
One of the defining features of the house is a tall, vertical window that opens the home to the street and the park beyond. Within this vertical window, a narrow atrium connects the second- floor living room to the third-floor bedrooms. The atrium is softly enclosed with a large movable shoji screen which creates a layer of air.
Unlike traditional shoji screens, the tall screens used here are made from sturdy materials and tension material. The position can be freely adjusted, allowing the spatial boundary between inside and outside to shift as needed.
Light, wind, sound, and views expand like a balloon within the atrium, gently permeating both the interior and exterior spaces. We call these spatial margins, "Deep Pockets."
At first glance, the Deep Pocket may appear purposeless, but it plays a vital role in dense residential areas, where conventional windows with thin glazing can create an uncomfortable closeness between inside and outside, both physically and psychologically. By adding a layer of depth to the window like a pocket, this space blurs the boundary between private and public, transforming it into a more nuanced place.
At the entrance, a horizontal Pocket is placed like an alley-like passage. Rather than having a single front door that sharply divides inside and outside, this pocket connects the two streets on either side of the plot. By placing the door within this in-between space, the boundary between front and back becomes more ambiguous, allowing for a gentler transition.
Tokyo is a hyper-dense urban environment, where creating sufficient distance from neighboring buildings is a challenge. To maximize the value of limited land, it’s natural to prioritize volume. But even a generously sized room can feel suffocating if its edges feel constrained.
The Deep Pockets provide a ‘margin’, a subtle buffer that helps the family feel that every corner of the home belongs to them. They support the emotional and spatial tolerance of the house.
Architects: TERRAIN architects, Zu architects
Structural Design: TECTONICA
Contractors: Miki Kensetsu Corporation
One of the defining features of the house is a tall, vertical window that opens the home to the street and the park beyond. Within this vertical window, a narrow atrium connects the second- floor living room to the third-floor bedrooms. The atrium is softly enclosed with a large movable shoji screen which creates a layer of air.
Unlike traditional shoji screens, the tall screens used here are made from sturdy materials and tension material. The position can be freely adjusted, allowing the spatial boundary between inside and outside to shift as needed.
Light, wind, sound, and views expand like a balloon within the atrium, gently permeating both the interior and exterior spaces. We call these spatial margins, "Deep Pockets."
At first glance, the Deep Pocket may appear purposeless, but it plays a vital role in dense residential areas, where conventional windows with thin glazing can create an uncomfortable closeness between inside and outside, both physically and psychologically. By adding a layer of depth to the window like a pocket, this space blurs the boundary between private and public, transforming it into a more nuanced place.
At the entrance, a horizontal Pocket is placed like an alley-like passage. Rather than having a single front door that sharply divides inside and outside, this pocket connects the two streets on either side of the plot. By placing the door within this in-between space, the boundary between front and back becomes more ambiguous, allowing for a gentler transition.
Tokyo is a hyper-dense urban environment, where creating sufficient distance from neighboring buildings is a challenge. To maximize the value of limited land, it’s natural to prioritize volume. But even a generously sized room can feel suffocating if its edges feel constrained.
The Deep Pockets provide a ‘margin’, a subtle buffer that helps the family feel that every corner of the home belongs to them. They support the emotional and spatial tolerance of the house.
Architects: TERRAIN architects, Zu architects
Structural Design: TECTONICA
Contractors: Miki Kensetsu Corporation
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