On a typically narrow Tokyo suburban site the goal is simple; build as much floor area as possible and connect it to the landscape so the home will feel connected to the outside environment. This last is not yet a typical ambition for the city’s residents but the former is almost inevitable if the cost of land and construction is considered.

From our perspective every piece of land the owner cannot access or make use of is an enormously wasteful expense.  If open space is the definition of luxury in Tokyo, the mark of waste (or possibly decadence) is to allow space to go unused and unseen. So we try to minimize that problem here while at the same time use the entire site to the legal maximum.  It is in that way a case study for space in a dense context, and an experiment in how to take advantage of what the city has to offer without making a glass box. In this case the main gesture was to pull the balcony into the living space on the second floor. Going forward it will be useful to use it at a larger scale.