Articles by Hana Abdel

The bracing house is a multiplex house for earnings from leasing that can be easily seen in any general residential area in Seoul, but it was our intention to make it different looking to the typical multiplex house. A fundamental change is not easy due to the inherent limit of the profitable lease building that has to guarantee the maximum floor area ratio, the bracing house, by installing a pseudo-wall, shows us a definitely different look compared to the typical multiplex house that adapts to the diagonal line limitations of the setback regulation.

The pride in her status as ‘Baba-Nyonya’ 峇峇娘惹 (The descendants from the inter-ethnic marriage of the Chinese settlers and native inhabitants of Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago) is an impression that we, Studio Locomotive, has collected from meeting with ‘Mother’ (the member of the project’s owner family) during the making of ‘Hotel Gahn’ through her dressing in a floral laced blouse, batik sarong, beaded slippers, and fine antique gold jewelry, her home cooking from the family’s recipe, and her reminiscences of the ways of living in her hometown. The designing for Hotel Gahn becomes a testament to the inheritance of this Baba-Nyonya status and its ethnic traditions passing down from the Mother to her descendants.

This two-generation residence is located in the working-class shitamachi section of Tokyo’s Shinagawa district. The property is surrounded by old wooden homes whose lots are being subdivided as the younger generation takes them over, increasing the density of an already densely developed neighborhood. New structures must meet or exceed the codes for semi-fireproof construction, which regulate the use of wood. The client, however, wanted a home with a “natural” feeling and plenty of wood.

The land width which is only 5.5m², with the space requirements that are not small enough to make a lot of design spaces to overcome these limitations, TROW HOUSE (Triangle-Narrow) concept is applied to create a room that has a Triangle Top Ceiling even on a narrow ground, this triangle ceiling can maximize the air circulation. With layout design that tends to be linear and elongated, zoning division of space in this design is accommodated with floor level that are applied at several points including family communal zone with service zone, guest bedroom area with main room and children’s rooms, and rooftop garden areas.