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