Niwa House, Southwark

Niwa House was designed for a family with a shared love of Japanese design, which is reflected in the tranquil spaces throughout the home. Since one family member is a wheelchair user, they also required it to be wheelchair friendly. Takero Shimazaki Architects has responded to the brief by creating a home that feels generous, and where spaces flow naturally into one another. 

The irregular-shaped site is at the back of a row of terraced houses, accessed down a narrow lane. As a result, the building was limited to single-storey height to avoid impacting neighbours. 

The architects chose to go down a floor to achieve the area that the client required. Carefully designed and located courtyards puncture the lower level and flood the bedrooms and circulation areas with natural light, creating lovely vignettes of gardens and sky. The quality of light throughout the home is breathtaking.  

Large full-height sliding doors and glazed walls seamlessly blend indoors and out – opening spaces to gardens, courtyards and balconies. It is difficult to see where the building ends and the gardens begin. 

The architect and structural engineer have worked incredibly hard to design the innovative hybrid timber-and-stone structure that creates the dominant aesthetic of the home. The exposed limestone ceilings provide thermal mass and rigidity to the structure. All surfaces are cream and light caramel in tone, adding to the calming homogeneity within the home. 

Light is filtered through sheer curtains. A green roof not only adds thermal mass to the building but also slows rainwater flow to the underground attenuation tanks. These in turn feed the water features in the Japanese-inspired gardens, adding an auditory element to the peaceful spaces.    

Niwa means ‘garden’ in Japanese, and the design blurs the lines between indoors and outdoors. This home is a hidden gem that surprises and delights: a secluded oasis allowing escape from the noise of the city.