The Cathedral Hallway House

Design description

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high windows, clerestory windows, middle hallway, house

2F "Cathedral" hallway

The north-facing high window provides views of the sky and the finial of the nearby pagoda.

2F "Cathedral" hallway

Looking towards the stairwell. Log beams run across the hallway. The space is naturally lit.

Stairwell

Looking towards the upper landing. The skylight provides natural light and a focal point.

All solid wood stairs handrail detail

It incorporates LED strip lighting on the underside. (Photo: S. Yamada)

clerestory windows, high windows, facade, wooden lattice screen, Kyoto, machiya renovation

North exterior view

High windows in the gable provide natural light. Other 2F windows are covered by a large wooden lattice screen for privacy.

Kitchen

From the kitchen, all 1F spaces as well as the garden are visible. The laundry room behind the kitchen is naturally lit.

1F space view

Natural light from the 2F cathedral hallways falls onto the bookcase on the left side. The snack counter on the right side is the center of the family's everyday life.

Entryway

The garden is viewable throughout the downstairs. Natural light floods in the stairwell behind the slat screen.

natural light, kid bedroom design, interior high windows, machiya renovation

Child's bedroom

Natural light from the skylights and interior high windows permeates all the rooms including kids bedrooms.

Floor plans

The 1F's open plan was made possible by a dispersed layout of narrow high-strength shear walls. The 2F plan shows a small floor opening on each end of the middle hallway, which allows light and sound to pass between floors.

Section

Various paths of natural light in the house are shown here.

Section

Showing the cathedral hallway

bamboo fences for a private residence entrance lane way in Kyoto

Entrance private lane way

New bamboo fences and a granite stepping stones embed in black pebbles lead to the entrance door.

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The Cathedral Hallway House

Description

Weaving the subtle beauty of the sky & natural light into the spatial experiences of the house: That was the design concept.

A new modern house inside the exterior shell of a 90+ year old wooden house (machiya) on a flag lot in a densely built-up residential neighborhood near Toji temple in Kyoto. It is a new home for the owner's family of four including two children.

Having been unoccupied for over a decade, the existing machiya was in worn-out condition. The downstairs was extremely dark even during the daytime. The existing stale Japanese style interior did not suit the client’s lifestyle, either.

The entire existing house was hollowed out on the inside, leaving some essential structural posts & beams only. Then new slab-on-grade concrete foundation was poured.

On the first floor, high-strength narrow shear walls are placed dispersedly according to the new open floor plan that features a small courtyard garden (tsuboniwa) in the back. The open floor plan offers views of the tsuboniwa from nearly every corner.

The second floor, formerly a single large traditional tatami room with sliding paper partitions, was remodeled into a modern sleeping quarter composed of bedrooms, a shower room, a toilet room, and an inner hallway. Those rooms’ partition walls enhance the house’s seismic resistance. The new vault ceiling exposes the existing log roof beams that run across the inner hallway and the master bedroom.

The new high gable window provides the upstairs' inner hallway with a view of the northern sky along with ample natural light, producing an uplifting quality. Hence the nickname of "Cathedral Hallway."

This inner "cathedral" hallway has turned out to be our client's best favorite space in the house.

(All photos by Kei Sugino, unless otherwise noted)

PROJECT INFO

Wood-framed House

(Full Renovation)

LOCATION

Kyoto, Japan

SIZE

107 sqm

(1F+2F)

カテドラル廊下の家

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