Hasta La Ideas

Slideshow: a wooden library climbs the walls of this four-storey house in Kanagawa, Japan.

Starting in the basement, the first set of bookshelves are a storey high, while a second set begin on the first floor and rise up to reach the ceiling of the floor above.

Tokyo studio Ryuji Fujimura Architects designed the residence, which is enclosed behind a grey powder-coated steel facade.

A mixture of both concrete and steel staircases connect the levels inside the house, while ladders provide access to a second floor loft and to the highest bookshelves.

Ladders are a common feature of many residences we feature from Japan. Ones worth a look include a house with climbing walls inside and another where rooms overlap one another.

See also: a house completely lined with bookshelves in Osaka.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s some more information from Ryuji Fujimura Architects:

Storage House by Ryuji Fujimura Architects

The house like a storage located in a residential area on the suburbs of Tokyo.

By providing the underground space, the volume of three floors encloses the space of two layers.

The parking has a large canopy, such as loading dock.

It can be used as a space people gather and is intended to successive to the streets.

Location: Kanagawa, Japan
Type: private residence

Architects: Ryuji Fujimura Architects
Structural engineer: Konishi Structural Engineers

Site area: 57.82 m2
Building area: 31.69m2
Floor area total: 56.26m2
Floor area by floor: b1f: 30.31m2 / 1f: 30.31m2 / 2f: 33.00m2

Design period: aug. 2009 – oct. 2010
Construction period: nov. 2010 – apr. 2011
Structure: steel, reinforced concrete