FORM: Promenade House

A long, narrow volume adapts to a similarly constrained site, creating a single family house where different living spaces are laid out in a sequential order, and light plays a crucial role.

Japanese architecture studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects have recently completed the Promenade house, a single family house in Shiga, Japan. The long, narrow volume adapts to a similarly constrained site, which is 4 metres wide and 35 metres deep.

FORM / Kouichi Kimura Architects, Promenade House, Shiga, Japan 2013

The house is thus 2,7 metres wide and 27 metres long, planned as a long, narrow hallway from which, according to the architects, the "body senses the site's geometry." On the ground floor, the different living spaces are laid out in a sequential order — entrance, dining and living rooms, study — following the length of the house. The second floor sees the private spaces — from bathrooms to bedrooms and an open-ceiling space —, which stem from a staircase illuminated by a skylight.

A green wall is used at both ends of the building, strongly marking its limits. Light is used throughout the house as a marker of open and closed spaces, leading visitors forward.

FORM / Kouichi Kimura Architects, Promenade House, Shiga, Japan 2013

FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects: Promenade house
Architects
: FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects
Location: Shiga,Japan
Client: Private
Completion: 2013
Site Area: 166,08 square metres
Built Area: 124,3 square metres
Photography: Takumi Ota, Kei Nakajim