Kuma&Elsa inserts translucent huts in Nakano House apartments

In Nakano City, Japan, the architecture firm Kuma&Elsa has transformed the upper two levels of a concrete apartment building by adding central translucent huts, aiming to replicate the ambiance of a traditional engawa. Named Nakano House, the project includes two residences: one for the client on the sixth floor and another for her son's family on the seventh. Each level features a steel-framed hut with timber sliding screens, surrounded by an engawa-inspired area that leads to balconies. The wooden floors extend from the huts with a zigzag design. Unfinished fire-resistant plasterboard ceilings and rough plastered bathroom walls add a sense of time. Timber shutters and curtains cover windows with sliding glass doors to the southern balconies. Founders Shohei Kuma and Elsa Escobedo crafted the interiors to reflect the client's childhood home, situated 15 meters above the ground.