designboom · Creativity & design

Tiny Tokyo Home Features Spiral Design

Tato Architects designed a compact family home on a less than 40 sqm lot in Tokyo, addressing the challenge of limited urban space.

The house for a family of four utilizes a spiral, skip-floor configuration across four interconnected levels instead of traditional stacked floors. This arrangement enhances sightlines and spatial depth within the narrow site.

The entrance is on a mezzanine level, with stairs leading both up towards a roof terrace and down to private rooms. This design maximizes the use of the flag-shaped lot's dimensions.

The structure employs slender steel members and 30mm thick laminated veneer lumber beams, keeping the structural elements visually light and scaled to furniture. This allows the spiral floors to fit within the volume without appearing heavy.

Openings, including a clerestory, bay windows, and a skylight, are strategically placed to bring in daylight and views, connecting the interior to the surroundings and the sky.

The design replaces a conventional two-story layout with a sequence of levels, distributing functions across interconnected spaces to create a sense of spaciousness.

The project demonstrates how skip floors, a light structural system, and thoughtful openings can create a functional and spacious home on a very small urban plot.

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