Light Welling House

Residence for Single Family for Mr. and Mrs. Uc

The Light Welling House is standing on a narrow site. So the designers had to think about how to bring the sunlight inside. Their solution to ensure natural lighting was to design the stairs as a path of light that would be able to distribute natural light to each room. The stairs are made of perforated metal to let the light seep through, and the stairwell has glass walls to allow the light to shine into each room as well as to lead and reflect the light from the top to lower levels. The positioning of the stairs was also a critical factor and therefore decided carefully, calculating the altitude of the winter sun.

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Light Welling House by Teruo Miyahara

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Residence for Single Family by Teruo Miyahara

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Teruo Miyahara Light Welling House

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Teruo Miyahara Residence for Single Family

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Teruo Miyahara Designer Portrait Photo

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Mr and Mrs UcBrand Logo

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Light Welling House Residence for Single Family Press Releases

Press resources for Light Welling House are offered in several languages: English.

Light Welling House Residence for Single Family Media Articles

Our articles on Light Welling House, prepared for immediate use, are offered in several languages, including Korean, Russian, Turkish, Arabic (Standard), Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and English.

Unique Properties

The client felt that a residence was a form of self exposure to the outer world. In order to live up to his expectations, this house was designed to imply the essence of the house within the urban context by bringing out the characteristics of the finishing material that was chosen. The concrete exterior walls were coated with lean mix acrylic paint, resulting in a black mottled effect according to the difference in the degree of water absorption and smoothness of the surface.

Tags

Narrow site, Light well, Mottled wall, Continuous windows, Zinc coated steel sashes, Raw brass sashes

Production Technology

On this project we designed all furnitures, all storage, kitchen set, dining table, stool, by our original design. And also we designed big sized zinc coated steel sashes. All because we needed to keep pureness of our design for the space of this house.

Design Challenge

The concrete exterior walls were coated with lean mix acrylic paint, resulting in a black mottled effect according to the difference in the degree of water absorption and smoothness of the surface. The zinc coated steel sashes were dipped in phosphate to strengthen the zinc layer, and the difference in the amount of zinc coating on the sashes projected a black patchy effect.

Project Duration

The project started in April 2004 and finished in May 2005 in Tokyo Japan.

Operation Flow

For the interior of the house, the first floor consists of an independent bedroom and bathroom. The second floor has a main room with a ceiling that partially opens onto the third floor; this aspect and the stairs made of perforated metal also contribute to the open feel of the main bedroom and tearoom on the third floor. The partitions were made of transparent glass and Japanese paper blinds so as not to divide the atmosphere.

Research

This house is a residence designed for a couple in their 30s and their daughter. It is standing on a small and narrow site of irregular shape. The site measures approximately 57 m2 in size: approximately 12 meters deep, 6 meters across where it faces the north road, and 2.7 meters across at the deepest end. The design for this house therefore needed to focus on the ideal form of an urban detached house within the constraints of the site itself as well as laws and regulations.

Inspiration

This house is located in a residential area in the western part of Tokyo. The site itself is a narrow and small with the north side touching the road. Since natural lighting could not be anticipated from the east or west sides, how to bring light into the residence was a major issue that needed to be solved at a high level. Our solution for this house to ensure natural lighting was to design the stairs as a path of light that would be able to distribute natural light to each room.

Image Credits

Mitsumasa Fujitsuka Miyahara architect office LLC

Project Overview

Light Welling House Residence for Single Family has been a Bronze winner in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design award category in the year 2019 organized by the prestigious A' Design Award & Competition. The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

Bronze Recognition

Teruo Miyahara was recognized with the coveted Bronze A' Design Award in 2020, a testament to excellence of their work Light Welling House Residence for Single Family.

Teruo Miyahara Press Releases

Discover Teruo Miyahara's journey through our press releases, available for all press members and journalists to use without restrictions. Immediate access is granted to 1 press releases for all journalists.

Light Welling House Shines Bright in Tokyo

Teruo Miyahara's Light Welling House is a Narrow Site Marvel

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