This is just great. Wish I would have seen this when we were in Osaka. Now I want to go back.
The full link here: http://www.dezeen.com/2010/08/19/a-small-tobacco-shop-by-avehideshi-architects-and-associates/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+dezeen+(Dezeenfeed)
Japanese firm Avehideshi Architects and Associates have completed this one-person house with a tobacco shop on the ground floor in Osaka, Japan.
A Small Tobacco Shop has been built on a 24 square-metre triangular site between a train line and high-rise block of flats.
The kitchen, bathroom, living space and shop are on the ground floor, with the bedroom on the second, and a walled roof-terrace on the third.
A spiral staircase and slimmed-down first storey floor slab have been used to maximize floor space and ceiling height respectively.
The internal wall enclosing the the spiral staircase has been painted green to give a feeling of depth.
A slit has been cut between the first-storey floor slab and bathroom wall to allow light to flow into the shop floor from above.
All photographs are by Hiroki Kawata.
Here’s some more from the architects:
A small tobacco shop
It is a project for the small tobacco shop where a woman in her sixties lives alone.The central places for living such as kitchen, bath, restroom are located on the first floor together with the shop. The bedroom is on the second floor and the terrace is on the third floor.
This site is located about 500 meters from a major train station in suburban Osaka. It is a lively area with large supermarkets and high-rise apartments.
With construction to elevate the train line and redevelopment of the area around the station, land readjustment led to a former combination store front and dwelling being dismantled and the land being reassigned, leaving this site: a 24.38 sqm small triangular plot.
Not only small but an unusual shape, we decided to take advantage of this by installing a spiral staircase to preserve as much floor space as possible. In addition, we made the 2nd floor slab as thin as we could, and made slits to allow light to pour in from the upper floor. Painting the support wall for the staircase green gave a feeling of depth, creating a space where the room and staircase are one, to finish off this large tobacco shop.