Japanese studio Form designed this top-heavy home for a family in Tokyo, placing their living spaces in an elevated volume that overhangs a gallery for its apron-designer owner.
The Kusatsu-based studio was asked to create the small house to meet the demands of family life, but also those of the client, who designs aprons.
Covered in white render, Adorable House hosts a gallery and master bedroom below its overhanging first floor, where there is a children's bedroom and an open-planned living space.
"The appearance has been designed to create both a massive and floaty feel," said studio director Kouichi Kimura, who had to comply with strict building height regulations when designing the 97-square-metre home.
"My works are characterised by poetic and functional minimalism, and a sense of openness and privacy, which is achieved through careful slicing and layering of wall elements, light and shadows and volumes and spaces," he added.
This aesthetic is most prominent in the overhanging first floor, which features a large window and skylights to create the illusion of an open, light-filled space that is suspended in mid-air.
Additionally, the minimal all-white interiors make the spaces feel large, and encourages the reflection of light throughout the home.
The gallery space fronts the wooden-frame house and is set to the rear of a garden designed to create a pleasant public entrance, and a dialogue with a park located opposite the site.
The gallery has its own entrance so that is distinguishable from the private living spaces, however a backdoor connects to the home's hallway for the residents to access the room without going outside.
To ensure floor space is maximised and the open white spaces are kept clutter free, simple wooden furniture is arranged around the edges of the rooms and the kitchen is set back behind a half-height wall.
Sliding doors were also chosen as a way to save space in the small home, while also providing a seamless finish to its interiors.
The overhanging living spaces forms a canopy over the entrance, creating a porch and a space for the clients to park their car.
Apollo Architects & Associates also recently completed a project where work and living spaces are combined – another top-heavy house in Japan that contains a gallery for displaying the client's art collection.
Designers Lim + Lu also completed an apartment in Hong Kong to double as their showroom.
Photography is by Yoshihiro Asada