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Residential
The Stillhouse
Private Residence
/
Kyoto, Japan
/
2025
Overview
A project shaped by its context.
A quiet composition of timber, stone and natural light.
The Stillhouse is a two-storey family home on a narrow plot in northern Kyoto. The brief asked for privacy from a busy street and a strong connection to the sky. We turned the plan inward around a planted courtyard, so every room borrows light and greenery from the centre. Cedar, local stone and lime plaster give the house a calm, tactile palette that will soften with age.
Location
Kyoto, Japan
Year
2025
Type
Private Residence
Area
182 m² across two levels
Scope
Architecture, interiors, landscape
Collaborators
Kanda Structural Office, Ueda Garden Works
The brief
What the project needed
The clients, a family of four, wanted a home that felt open and bright without giving up privacy on a dense residential street. The plot measured just 9 by 22 metres, with neighbours close on three sides.
They also asked for a space for tea ceremony and a garden that could be enjoyed from every room, all within a modest budget.
Design approach
How we responded
We placed a courtyard at the heart of the plan and wrapped the living spaces around it. Deep eaves and vertical cedar louvres filter light from the street while the courtyard brings daylight deep into the house.
Circulation follows the edge of the garden, so moving between rooms becomes a slow walk past changing light. Materials were kept to a short list of cedar, stone, plaster and washi paper, chosen for how they age and how they feel underfoot.
Project gallery
Light, material and the life within.
Street elevation with cedar screening.
Living space opening onto the courtyard.
Roof tiles and timber detailing.
Tatami room for tea and quiet reading.
