A curved timber volume sits at the heart of Sugi House, shaping the rooms around it without closing them off. Designed by Ujizono Architects, the family residence occupies an 83.91-square-meter site in Kyoto, beside the southern approach to Yoshida Shrine. Completed in January 2026, the timber-framed house contains 94.87 square meters of floor space, with its most interesting decisions unfolding inside a restrained exterior.
From the street, the upper story reads as a wooden box suspended above a recessed entrance and parking space. Vertical boards give the facade a fine grain, interrupted by a single prominent rectangular window. A raised strip of glazing peeks above the front roofline. The composition sits between neighboring houses without trying to outshout them; its depth comes from the shadow beneath the projecting upper floor.
Designer: Ujizono Architects
Inside, architects Kazuki Ujigawa and Mirai Ozono establish a contrast between levels. The ground floor follows a relatively enclosed arrangement, with a hallway connecting three bedrooms and a bathroom. A staircase toward the rear leads upstairs, where living, cooking, and dining share a more expansive volume beneath the pitched ceiling. The climb makes the shift from private rooms to communal space part of the everyday route through the house.
That upper floor avoids the blank openness of an undivided room. Its curved timber core partially separates the living area from the lower kitchen and dining zone, while concealing a ladder-like stair to a mezzanine. Moving around the curve changes what is visible and what disappears behind it. A lowered ceiling above the kitchen reinforces the distinction, giving different activities their own proportions without enclosing each one behind a door.
Daylight provides another way to open the interior while maintaining distance from neighboring properties. According to the architects’ project description, high-level windows admit light deeper into the house while limiting direct overlooking. Exposed timber rafters remain visible beneath the roof, giving that overhead space a legible structure. The design’s sense of openness relies on height and illumination rather than extensive outward-facing glass.
Elsewhere, openings between floors create visual connections, while curtains offer boundaries that residents can adjust. These elements support the architects’ intention for family members to remain aware of one another while occupying separate spaces. Privacy becomes something that can vary with the activity, rather than a condition determined entirely by fixed walls.
The curved core is the persuasive move here. It gives the shared floor a center, makes circulation purposeful, and offers partial separation without requiring a corridor. For a compact family home, that is a useful middle ground: enough definition to distinguish activities, with room for daily life to overlap.
