The Cycling House by Be-Fun Design makes a tight bend to make room for entrances to eight apartment units.
The Japanese architects Be-Fun Design completed design and construction of the Cycling House in the downtown area of Sumida, Tokyo, Japan: A two-story apartment building located on a 220 m2 site situated next to the Sumida river bank.
To create a private entranceway for the inhabitants of the Cycling House, Be-Fun Design created a concept that features an alley-like building entrance: A curvilinear passageway that is meant to function like an extension of the city's alleys, drawing the approaching visitors and inhabitants to the center of the building.
The Cycling House is a 300-m2 apartment building housing eight units that are laid from their separate entrances and are consequently rather narrow.
The Cycling House bends in on itself to generate a two meter-wide chasm between itself and an adjacent structure. By additionally introducing rounded out corners to the wooden structure of the building, the bending exterior surface is visually even more exaggerated.
The apartments are all designed with multiple levels made up of partial floor slabs and loft platforms placed at varying levels resulting in vertical voids that visual extend the tight layout of the apartments. In addition the white finish of the floor, walls and furniture further visually enlarges the interior spaces.
