Adapting part of a three-storey house, Yasunari Tsukada planned the interior as a grid of partitioned rooms that maintain the same clarity as an open-plan residence.

"The client requested a home where he could feel the presence of his family throughout the building, while at the same time having the calm and relaxing sensation of being in a private room," explains the designer.

The mezzanine floor runs across the centre of the space, accessed by a metal staircase near the entrance. There are no walls around it, only balustrades, so residents can look down onto any of the surrounding rooms.

Large windows and doorways also open rooms out to one another. There are a few sliding doors, so some of the spaces can be made more private when necessary.

"Each space also contains two or more windows or openings, giving rise to a multilayered space with no sense of hierarchy within it," says Tsukada.

An existing glass-block wall that previously encased a stairwell gives a curved outline to a new living room, plus a single concrete wall is the backdrop for a television.

The ceiling of the residence follow the angle of the roof. Bare lightbulbs hang down from it on long cables, while others are mounted sideways onto the walls.

Japanese designer Yasunari Tsukada more recently completed a beauty salon in Osaka with a timber lattice stretching across one wall.

Other new Japanese residences include an apartment with a sunken circular living room and an opaque house balanced above a pet shop. See more architecture in Japan.

Photography is by Stirling Elmendorf.

Here's some more information from Yasunari Tsukada:

House in Takamatsu

Our client was initially inclined to build a new house. After much consideration, however, he decided to partly renovate his three-storey family house, and use it as a residence for a two-generation family.

The client requested a home where he could feel the presence of his family throughout the building, while at the same time having the calm and relaxing sensation of being in a private room. By enveloping each room with a sloping ceiling to make use of the existing building, we wondered if we could create an ambiguously defined space that would feel as if it had been partitioned, while still maintaining a sense of coherence and unity.

The components that make up each individual room are gate-like walls, which consist mainly of openings. The roof gradient and heights of the sash windows were determined in accordance with the original height of the living room, which was 2400mm. The heights of the walls also took their cue from this figure, and were set at 2400mm. Although it seems as if this height has been deployed with excessive frequency within the space, doing away with ceilings for the individual rooms while covering them with a single, sloping ceiling and installing windows at a number of positions along the walls allowed us to create a sort of landscape that presented a very different face to the familiar surroundings. Each space also contains two or more windows or openings, giving rise to a multilayered space with no sense of hierarchy within it.

The renovation process involves thinking about how we can devise new spaces while respecting a given set of conditions imposed by the existing building, as well as the client's requirements. The glass blocks from the large staircase and stairwell were transformed into a part of the living room and the reading space, while the innocuous reinforced concrete wall that originally supported the staircase was given a new lease of life as the wall that one notices most of all on a daily basis. For our client, this space helped to give things and objects new meanings, and became invested with new stories and narratives – a process that prompted him to rethink the possibilities of design through renovation.

Project Name: House in Takamatsu
Project Type: residence renovation
Location: Takamatsu-city, Kagawa, Japan
Completion: 2012 May
Design: Yasunari Tsukada design
Contractor: Shikoku Housing

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by Yasunari Tsukada appeared first on Dezeen.

The existing building was a typical Vietnamese "tube house", with a long, thin plan and few windows. AHL Architects Associates was tasked with reorganising the plan to make better use of space and to increase natural light and ventilation.

The architects began by relocating the staircase from the centre of the house to along one wall, then added a large skylight overhead. They also removed sections of the floor, creating the four-storey atrium and a series of indoor balconies.

"The staircase and corridors were designed not as a simple and boring path but as a continuous and sequential space which becomes a living space," explain the architects.

The wall running alongside the atrium is lined with white ceramic tiles, giving it a ridged texture, and all of the balustrades are glazed to let more light through.

Just in front of the staircase, the entrance to the house is set within a recessed driveway at the end of a ramped platform. Once inside, residents can walk through to a kitchen on the ground floor or head upstairs to a double-height living room on the floor above.

Bedrooms are located on the first, second and third floors, and the top storey also features a dedicated worship room and a roof terrace.

Another "tube house" we've previously featured on Dezeen is the four-storey Stacking Green house, which features a a vertical garden on its facade. See more Vietnamese architecture on Dezeen.

Photography is by Anh Duc Le.

Here's more from AHL Architects Associates:

4.5x20 House

This house was designed for a young family with one child and grandmother, located in Van Phu, a new urban area in Hanoi, Vietnam. The existing design is boring (like thousands of other houses in Vietnam): lost of natural lighting and ventilation; simple space with core (staircase and toilet) in the middle and two bedrooms at two sides. Client (young family) needs something different from the existing. They need their own house, their style. This situation requires a smart solution for traffic, thereby creating interesting solutions of space, daylight and natural ventilation.

Based on their requirements, the program is quite simple: garage (for 2 cars), kitchen on the 1st floor, bedroom (for grand mother) and living room on the 2nd floor, master bedrooms on the 3rd floor, small guest room, sky terrace and worship on the 4th floor... but they need the architects focus on the creation of public spaces.

With a simple strategy "traffic creates space and function", we started by changing the location of staircase. Unique and continuous spaces were proposed based on the new staircase. The staircase and corridors were designed not as a simple and boring path but as a continuous and sequential space which becomes a living space.

Along with identifying new locations for staircase, the voids are also determined for natural lighting and ventilation. An atrium in the middle of house was created to bring daylight to lobbies and all rooms without window to outside. In addition, that allows full connection between the four levels of the house vertically.

The central space is the biggest volume where a double height living room locates, is surrounded by opening staircase, autrium and big windows.

The restrained and limited material palette of white painted ceramic tiles, wood, and glass avoids unnecessary ornamentation in order movement through a variety of opening spaces.

Type of development: Renovation of typical tube-house
Dimension: 4.5x20
Location: Van Phu New Urban Area, Hanoi, Vietnam
Status: Finished
Cost: 112,000 usd
Date: 2012

Architects: AHL architects associates
Architects in charge: Hung Dao, Tuan Anh Mai, Son Chu, Hieu Hoang, Nghia Mai, Tung Nguyen, Truc Anh Nguyen

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AHL Architects Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Named Panorama House, the three-storey residence is home to a family of six in North Chungcheong Province. The clients had asked Moon Hoon to include various spaces where their four children could play, so the architects designed a house where different floors belong to different residents.

The ground floor is dedicated to the children and includes the wooden staircase and slide. Open treads create bleacher-style seating areas for a home cinema, but they also double-up as bookshelves for a small study area tucked underneath.

"The key was coming up with a multi-functional space," say the architects. "The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase."

Two twin bedrooms are located behind the study, plus the youngest children can also use the large second-floor attic as a playroom.

Family rooms are all located on the middle floor and lead out to two separate terraces. Underfloor heating was added to each of the spaces to encourage residents to sit on the floor, rather than on furniture.

A bedroom suite is separated at one end of this floor and features an en suite bathroom and dressing room.

The facade of Panorama House is divided into a basalt-clad base and a white-rendered upper. To accentuate the subtle zigzag of the plan, the architects added angled sections to create the illusion of three cubes in perpective.

Indoor slides have featured in a few residences in recent years. Architect David Hotson added a tubular steel slide to a penthouse apartment in New York, while slides have also featured in a house in Indonesia and a house in Japan. See more slides on Dezeen.

Photography is by Huh Juneul, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here's a project description from Moon Hoon:

Panorama House

The Client

They have four kids, and that is a big family by contempory standards. They are both teachers in their late thirties. The first and the most important thing they wanted in their new home was a place where their kids could play, read and study. They wanted lower floors for the kids and upper for themselves. They already tried it out with another architect, but it did not satisfy them, that's when they said that they found about me, who appeared to be more playful and more creative.

The Site

Irregular and sloped site boasted a great view. It is situated in a nice newly built surburb. The view reminded me of a scene from a movie, LA surburbs at night. Instantly, a name for the house came up - Panorama House - which they nodded with some ambience.

The Design

The basic request of upper and lower spatial organization and the shape of the site prompted a long and thin house with a fluctuating facade, which would allow for a more differentiated view. The key was coming up with a multi-functional space which is a large staircase, bookshelves, casual reading space, home cinema, slide and many more.

The client was very pleased with the design, and the initial design was accepted and finalised almost instantly, only with minor adjustments. The kitchen and dining space is another important space where family gathers to bond. The TV was pushed away to a smaller living room. The attic has the best view is possible and it is used as a play room for younger kids.

The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase. It is an action-filled, playful house for all ages.

The fluctuating facade is accentuated by mirrored bottom and top angles. It can bring about some illusion when looked at with some concentration. The various sized windows provide different outlooks. Korean houses are floor heated, which is quite unique and brings users to the floors more than to furniture such as sofa and chairs. So many windows are placed quite low, considering the long living habit. There is no high-legged dining table for the family, only a portable foldable short-legged table. The space kept empty until any specific function arises.

Architect: Moon Hoon
Design Team: Lee Ju Hee, Kim Dong Won, Park Sang Eun
Client: Moon Sung Gwang
Total Site Area: 570.50 sqm
Total Floor Area: 209.14 sqm
Construction: reinforced concrete and wood frame

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by Moon Hoon appeared first on Dezeen.

As the weekend retreat for Thomas Gluck - one of the firm's principals - and his family, Tower House was designed as a four-storey tower with a "treetop aerie", affording mountain views across the nearby Catskill Park.

The house is glazed on every side. In some places Gluck+ has fitted dark green panels behind to camouflage the walls with the surrounding woodland, while other areas remain transparent, revealing a bright yellow staircase that zigzags up behind the southern elevation.

Taut vertical cables form the balustrade for this staircase and are interspersed with small lights, intended to look like fireflies after dark.

One of the main aims of the design was to minimise the impact on the landscape. The architects achieved this by lifting the large living areas off the ground and stacking bedrooms and bathrooms on the three floors beneath, creating a base footprint of just 40 square metres.

This arrangement also allows all of the wet rooms to be arranged in an insulated central core. When the house isn't is use, this core isolates the heating systems, helping to reduce energy consumption.

The three bedrooms are positioned on the north side of the house, where they can benefit from the most consistent daylight, and contain yellow furniture to match the colour of the staircase.

The living room above is divided up into four different zones by the arrangement of furniture and features a 12-metre-long window seat that spans the entire space. There's also a secluded roof terrace on the next level up.

New York-based Gluck+ was known until recently as Peter Gluck and Partners. The firm is now run by Peter, his son Thomas, and three other principals.

Other New York residences featured on Dezeen include a penthouse apartment with a tubular steel slide and a writer's hideaway in the woods. See more architecture in New York.

Photography is by Paul Warchol, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here's a project description from the architects:

Tower House

This small vacation house is designed as a stairway to the treetops. Keeping the footprint to a minimum so as not to disturb the wooded site, each of the first three floors has only one small bedroom and bath, each a tiny private suite. The top floor, which contains the living spaces, spreads out from the tower like the surrounding forest canopy, providing views of the lake and mountains in the distance. An outdoor roof terrace deck above extends the living space above the treetops, offering a stunning lookout to the long view. The glass-enclosed stair also highlights the procession from forest floor to treetop aerie, while the dark green, back-painted glass exterior camouflages the house by reflecting the surrounding woods, de-materialising its form. At dusk, mini lights dotting the cable rail of the stair mimic local fireflies sparkling in the woods as day turns to dark.

As a vacation home, the Tower House is used during a few weekends in the winter and most weekends in the summer. The design imperative was to develop a sustainable, energy efficient solution with minimal operating costs and maintenance for a house occupied part-time. The stacked north-facing bedrooms take advantage of light and views with floor to ceiling glass. In order to optimise energy savings for heating and cooling in this part-time residence, a two part sustainable strategy was employed to reduce the heating footprint of the house in the winter and to avoid the need for air conditioning in the summer.

While the house is heated conventionally, by compressing and stacking all of the wet zones of the house into an insulated central core, much of the house can be "turned off" in the winter when not in use. When not in use, only 700 square feet of the 2,545 square foot house is heated. By closing the building down to only the insulated core, there is a 49% reduction in energy use. In the summertime, the house feels comfortable without air conditioning. Cool air is drawn in and through the house using the stack effect. South-facing glass throughout the stairwell creates a solar chimney and as the heated air rises, it is exhausted out the top, drawing in fresh air through the house from the cooler north side.

Project: The Tower House
Location: Upstate NY
Area: 2,545 sqft
Year: June 2012

Architecture and Construction: GLUCK+ (Peter L. Gluck, Thomas Gluck, David Hecht, Marisa Kolodny, A.B. Moburg-Davis)
Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates P.C.
Mechanical Engineer: Rosini Engineering P.C.
Façade: Bill Young
Environmental Engineer: IBC Engineering
Lighting: Lux Populi

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by Gluck+ appeared first on Dezeen.

Entitled Main Ridge Residence, the single-storey house features a central courtyard that is open to the north, as well as a protruding living room that projects eastwards to frame views towards the fields of a neighbouring strawberry farm.

"The site had no clear 'hero' views with which to orientate the building," explains Victoria-based McAllister Alcock Architects. "However there were a series of lovely, albeit modest aspects... The architecture retains the memory of these existing landscape vistas and uses them as an ordering device."

The house is divided into two main wings. The first stretches along the eastern edge of the site to accommodate a row of bedrooms and bathrooms, while the second wraps around the south-west corner and contains family rooms as well as a small guest suite.

These two sections are visually separated by materials, with the timber cladding lining the eastern side of the house and chunky Corten steel walls framing an entrance on the western facade.

Beyond the entranceway, an enclosed patio leads residents either into the house or through to the courtyard beyond, and is framed by walls of concrete.

Living and dining areas occupy a single space beneath a faceted plywood ceiling. A timber drum divides the space into two and contains a pantry and a spiral staircase, leading down to a wine cellar beneath the house.

Other recently completed houses in Australia include a Sydney bungalow into a two-storey residence and a Melbourne beach house built from recycled bricks and rough-sawn timber. See more Australian houses on Dezeen.

Exterior photography is by Derek Swalwell and interior photography is by Shannon McGrath.

Here's a project description from McAllister Alcock Architects:

Main Ridge Residence, Mornington Peninsula, Australia

The Main Ridge house sits within an established working vineyard located on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. The brief was for a comfortable 4 bedroom family home with a visual connection to the vines and which provided an area suitable for entertaining the international guests who visit our clients' winery.

We are 'urban architects', used to working with the constraints of existing built form and planning regulations and creating architecture in residual urban space. We consider our work to be contextual, an architectural response to the urban 'found' conditions. In this case the context for the house was abstract; the site had no clear 'hero' views with which to orientate the building. The best northern solar orientation faces away from the vines, while to the west an existing artificial cutting separated the house site from the vines and the view to the east was dominated by a large and visually 'messy' strawberry farm. However there were a series of lovely, albeit modest aspects: to the north a view beneath trees full of dappled light and a promise of what lies beyond; to the south a gentle rolling grassy slope terminating at the vines. The architecture retains the memory of these existing landscape vistas and uses them as an ordering device – externally with the form and placement of the new building and internally with the orientation of the inside spaces.

On approach the house is hidden by two 20 metre long angled weathered 'Corten' steel walls. On entering through a gap between the walls – reminiscent of the original cutting - the house and site reveal themselves. The residence is comprised of pavilions enclosing three sides of a sheltered, north facing courtyard. The courtyard design maximises northern light to the interior and creates zones within the home: one for more private family living and another that can also cater for entertaining guests. A sculptured limed plywood ceiling provides a horizontal ribbon linking the public and private areas of the main pavilion, and contributes visual 'drama' while still maintaining a comfortable residential scale. A pod-like timber 'drum' marks the pivot point between the public and private realms and hides a butler's pantry, the staircase to the wine cellar, and sliding doors to zone the spaces.

At the start of the project our clients were not overly impressed with the attributes of their site and were not fond of the view to the strawberry farm. The design of the residence has changed our clients' perception of their environs by carefully selecting and 'framing' vignettes so that the inhabitants are encouraged to pause, and appreciate the special characteristics of a landscape setting that has more 'depth' than just the strong graphic rows of grapevines.

Location: Main Ridge, Mornington Peninsula, Australia
Architects: McAllister Alcock Architects
Project Type: New House
Project Team: Karen Alcock, Clare McAllister, Maria Danos, Brett Seakins, Jack Tu

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McAllister Alcock Architects appeared first on Dezeen.