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Another Serene Central Courtyard House in Japan

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With all these glimpses of filtered daylight in this home, you’d ever guess no light comes from outside its walls.

But there are no windows at all on the outside of this family’s live/work home in Tokyo.

Satoshi Kurosaki/APOLLO Architects & Associates created this solution for an insurance manager and a patternmaker and their two children.

The wife also likes to teach yoga, and an upstairs space is allocated for her classes.

The solution is one we’ve seen several examples of in Japanese architecture: a central courtyard brings all the daylight needed in to the heart of the home.

A single tree in the courtyard centers the architecture.

The family’s seclusion from society is not echoed in the interior.

Entirely open on the inside, the glass walled rooms are visible to each other around the courtyard.

Although this seems impossibly claustrophobic from outside, from inside the spaces are well lit, open and serene.

And the open-air garden at its heart makes it possible to experience Japan’s four seasons to the fullest in this house.