Maximizing Vertical Space and Light on a Narrow Lot

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Platinum House is a residence in Tokyo, Japan designed by Atelier Spinoza. The narrow shape of the lot meant they needed to design up, but the interior doesn’t just showcase that main goal: maximizing vertical space. The architects were able to achieve an interior that feels spacious by letting natural light flood every single room of the three-story building.

There’s not a single part of the home that feels dark or closed off. In fact it doesn’t even feel horizontally narrow. The first floor abuts a small triangular courtyard and light comes in the floor to ceiling window and glass patio door. And, though most of the courtyard is covered by the second floor deck — the open grating lets light cascade in nonetheless. On the second floor, the floor-to-ceiling patio door and a skylight on one side both allow light to bound in. The central staircase is open so there no hallway walls close off the light. (Only simple white handrails mirror the geometry of the split floor layout.) And, the wood ceilings and interior windows make it seem as spacious and wondrous to look up as it is to look down.

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