Kiyose House

150m2 Renovation - Kiyose, Tokyo
Will Galloway, Koen Klinkers, Yuka Takeuchi

When it appears in media Japanese architecture is almost always presented at its most spectacular. Exceptional construction or high-end concepts are central to the narrative in almost every case. The reality of cities like Tokyo is more faithfully reflected in anime or movies that aim for a realistic setting, whether it is to revel in stories of everyday life or surreal fantasy. The house in Kiyose would fit into such a story very well. It sits in a typical suburban neighbourhood outside of Tokyo’s expansive core, far enough away that some of the extremes of the mega-city are less present. Land prices are lower, tall buildings are rare, and there is less variety in the kinds of activities going on. Even so, the neighborhood is relatively dense, and the street is as much for walking as for cars.

Sitting at the edge of Tokyo’s urban conglomeration the neighbourhood mixes houses and apartments with farmland, generic highway shops and infrastructure. The house is inexpensively built. Sturdy in the face of earthquakes but intended for just a few decades of use. The planned lifespan is clear in the lightness of its construction and the lack of durability of its finishes and construction. In short it is a typical Japanese house built for the market, made as cheaply as possible with very efficient plans and bought and sold based on the number of rooms while avoiding any discussion of comfort and quality.

This is not the kind of building that is normally restored or renovated. In Japan it would be much more common to tear it down and replace it with a new factory-made or bespoke home. But times have changed and pressures from the market are somewhat reduced. So, we were asked to consider the house as if it were an old factory ready for a new life. An interesting request, because the home itself is not materially expressive and has no patina of age, nor could it ever form one given the short lifespan of its finishes. On the interior the plan is defined by an abundance of closed cell-like rooms that force a hermetic life for its owners. Rooms are dark and small, and spaces like the kitchen, the intended center of the home, are built poorly and with little thought for how its users might connect with each other during the day.

To make it feel more spacious, and to connect better with the property it sits on, we removed the interior walls, creating two floors of open space. The structure however could not be changed easily and so it remains in place, becoming a defining element within the home. New furniture weaves around the exposed structure, creating a series of rooms that can be open or closed, shared and combined as needed. On the exterior the house is exaggerated, becoming a drawing of itself in black and white, with a concrete ramp and a dais for plants added to ease access and use.