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Interior
Courtyard 08
Interior & Renovation
/
Tokyo, Japan
/
2024
Overview
A project shaped by its context.
A planted lightwell at the centre of a compact city home.
Courtyard 08 is the renovation of a 1980s townhouse in Setagaya. The original interior was dark and divided into small rooms. We removed a section of floor to create a planted lightwell that runs through all three levels, then reorganised the plan around it. The result is a home that feels larger, brighter and calmer while keeping the original structure.
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Year
2024
Type
Interior & Renovation
Area
96 m² across three levels
Scope
Interior design, renovation
Collaborators
Aoki Engineering, Midori Plant Studio
The brief
What the project needed
A young couple bought the townhouse for its location but found it dark, cramped and cold. They wanted more daylight, better storage and a space for plants, without moving the stair or changing the facade.
The budget favoured careful intervention over a full rebuild.
Design approach
How we responded
We cut a lightwell through the centre of the house and lined it with planting, so daylight reaches the ground floor for the first time. Rooms now open onto this green core rather than onto the street.
Built-in oak joinery replaces loose furniture and hides storage along every wall. Light walls, pale timber and indirect lighting make the compact rooms feel generous at every hour.
Project gallery
Light, material and the life within.
Oak slats framing the lightwell.
Display niche with indirect lighting.
Living room after renovation.
Detail of oak joinery and stone worktop.
