Akio Nakasa of Naf Architect & Design – who also recently completed a pair of houses that stand together to form an arch – planned the two-storey home for the once-empty corner plot in a residential area of Setagaya, a ward in Tokyo.

To accommodate pedestrians who were used to cutting the corner of the derelict site on their route along the street, Nakasa designed the house with a curving profile.

“When a corner lot is vacant, passers-by would walk into the lot to cut a corner,” said Nakasa. “The trail of cutting the corner of the lot seems appropriate to set the merging line of two different houses.”

Half & Half House takes its name from its partially flat and partially gabled roofline, which provide a small terrace and an attic respectively.

“This house consists of combining two different types of houses,” said the architect, who came up with the concept to deal with the site’s two contrasting aspects.

“The impression you get from the surrounding differs by where you stand in the lot. The outer corner bordering south and east streets is sunny and open, but it feels slightly uneasy, as it is too exposed.”

To further undline the unique design, the walls were finished in glossy midnight-blue tiles to offer reflections of the streetscape.

In contrast to the dark, shiny exterior, the interior space features pale wooden ceilings and floors, and matt white walls.

The wooden construction was left bare across the ceilings to maintain maximum head-height over the ground-floor bedrooms, which are located beneath the flat roof on the ground floor. A garage sits to one side of this level.

The kitchen, bathrooms and attic storage are situated in the area under the gabled roof, which is finished on the exterior with mortar as a concession to neighbouring buildings.

Curving shelving units are built into the bent wall of the combined living and dining room.

A metal staircase ascends one side of the building, providing an external route to the upper storey and roof terrace.