Japanese style Southwark home, Niwa House South London residential property, Architecture images
Japanese style Southwark home: Niwa House
20 May 2025
A tranquil, Japanese style home designed to be wheelchair accessible.
Design: Takero Shimazaki Architects
Location: Southwark, London, England, UK
photo : Felix Koch
Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects
Jury citation:
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. The architect has responded to the brief by creating a home that feels generous and where spaces flow into one another.
photo : Anton Gorlenko
The irregular-shaped site is at the back of a row of terraced houses in Southwark, 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.
photo : Felix Koch
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 full-height 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.
photo : Felix Koch
The architect and structural engineer have worked incredibly hard to design an 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.
photo : Anton Gorlenko
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.
2025 RIBA London Awards Winners
Japanese style Southwark home, Niwa House – RIBA London Awards Shortlist 2025 images / information received 130525
Location: Southwark, London, England, United Kingdom
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