F-WHITE

F-WHITE is a single-story suburban residence with a distinguishing diagonally arranged courtyard. In one corner of the residential area sold in lots 30 years ago, the land was incidentally not divided into a typical single lot. The result was that the lot had a larger area than normal but a narrower frontage, which made it unpopular as a conventional residence so it had been used as a parking lot for a long time. The client wanted to build a single-story house that had an interior space with an integrated atmosphere on this unique site.

The center of the site was open to the beautiful sky above as it was rather large with a certain distance from the adjacent house. In order to make use of the sky above, we created the courtyard in the center of the site for use as a private outdoor space. The combination of the courtyard and the single-story house was a reasonable option since the single-story building was low enough to allow sunshine into a courtyard that was rarely obstructed. On the other hand, the courtyard was arranged in the center of the strip of the land, which divided the inside of the house into two because of the presence of the courtyard itself, and so concluded that we would fail to meet the client’s request for an integrated interior space.

Consequently, we arranged the courtyard diagonally and prepared the rooms with enough space around the courtyard, though the shapes were irregular, and connected each room at the end to eliminate corridors. These rooms are a series of spaces linked through the air to have a strong connection as a whole by sharing the courtyard. Because the courtyard ensures privacy, it is not necessary to draw the curtains, so when the weather is good, especially on a sunny day, the windows can be left open to incorporate the courtyard into a part of the living space as an extension of the rooms.

With an extended, integrated atmosphere, the rooms around the courtyard are not just a series of similar spaces but can be defined as a collection of different places with specialized functions. Every turn made along the courtyard changes the expression of the space little by little, which leads you further back into an area with greater privacy. Our aim was to create a profound living space that provides the residents with the psychological feeling of depth in spite of the simple plan.