JP7589556B2 - A home with a work corner that supports daily life - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a home that supports lifestyles with a work corner.

In recent years, telecommuting/remote work from home has become increasingly popular, replacing commuting to the workplace due to family and social reasons. With the evolution of information and communication technology, many occupations have become much easier to work from home than before. In order to smoothly implement the transition to telecommuting/remote work, which is expected to spread further in the future due to family and social demands, it is important to provide housing that makes it possible. Among those who have come to work at home under various constraints, there are various ways of living, such as living alone, living with children, or living with family. Here, it is the job of housing manufacturers to improve each person's work environment, reduce the burden of work, or draw up a floor plan suitable for housework, and the provision of housing that fully responds to the key telecommuting/remote work style, especially as a new way of working is changing the world, is progressing.

JP 2014-205979 A JP 2018-178443 A JP 2003-161046 A JP 2000-274090 A

In recent years, with the spread of telecommuting and remote work, houses that have been designed with telecommuting and remote work in mind from the beginning of their construction are being developed and sold. These are houses where the indoor facilities, layout, and especially the workplace have been modified to make it easier to work. Examples of workplaces in such houses include the following: a closed-space workplace adjacent to the living/dining/kitchen space, a workplace without windows, and an open workplace with no partitions. These workplaces have the advantages of being easy to concentrate on, being immersed in work, and having a sense of openness, but they also have disadvantages. First, in a closed-space workplace, the air flow can be stagnant. Furthermore, if the workplace and the living/dining/kitchen space are adjacent and can be moved back and forth, it can be difficult to switch between work and private life. Secondly, a workplace without windows has the advantage of being able to concentrate on work, but compared to a space with windows, it is undeniable that there is a sense of oppression and it can be depressing. On the contrary, if the workplace has a certain sense of openness, it can be possible to avoid severe fatigue caused by excessive concentration and work can progress. Thirdly, while an open workspace with no partitions allows people to work with ease and without a feeling of claustrophobia, some people may find it difficult to concentrate.

The present invention is based on prior art documents Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4, which relate to effective use of pantries, floor plans that take housework or daily life into consideration, a home work room, and a kitchen with multiple rooms around it, and aims to solve the above problems while providing a home that has ventilation, pursues convenience, provides an environment for childcare and work, provides a place to take a break between work, is designed to allow work to begin promptly, and has a workplace suitable for working from home/remotely, a home that supports a lifestyle with a work corner.

The home of the present invention that supports a lifestyle with a work corner is a home equipped with a kitchen, living/dining room, bedroom, a work corner which is a workplace allowing working from home and has a built-in work counter, shelves and chairs, a pantry, and a room for storing items, and is characterized in that it has two different spaces adjacent to each other and accessible from each other, the spaces being the kitchen and the living/dining room, the living/dining room and the bedroom, the bedroom and the work corner, the work corner and the pantry, and the pantry and the kitchen, and the living/dining room and the work corner are not adjacent to each other and the kitchen and the work corner are not adjacent to each other and the bedroom, the work corner and the pantry are arranged in a straight line and accessible from each other, the work corner and the room for storing items are adjacent to each other, and the work corner and the living/dining room are adjacent to each other with an interior window in between.

According to the present invention, an interior window is provided between the work corner, which is a workplace where telecommuting is possible, and the living/dining room. Homes with floor plans that are suitable for telecommuting/remote work can be divided into those in which the workplace is adjacent to the outdoors and those that are not. It is more difficult to take in outside air for workplaces that are not adjacent to the outdoors than for those that are adjacent to the outdoors. However, from a hygienic perspective, if the workplace is well ventilated, air flows and the air can be exchanged, so ensuring ventilation is one of the challenges in creating a telecommuting/remote work environment. In the home of the present invention, an interior window is provided between the work corner, which is a workplace, and the living/dining room, so that even if the work corner is not adjacent to the outdoors, the interior window connects the work corner to the living/dining room, allowing outside air to be taken in from the living/dining room that is usually adjacent to the outdoors.

In addition, in telecommuting/remote work, it is possible to take advantage of the benefits of working from home and do housework such as laundry, cleaning, and cooking, while also doing telecommuting/remote work. If both are done in parallel, the layout of the house that affects movement within the space used for work, movement within the space used for housework, and movement between the space used for work and the space used for housework is an important point in terms of convenience. In this invention, when the pantry is considered to be a space used for work, the work corner and the pantry, which are spaces used for work, are adjacent to each other so that they can be accessed, and in the kitchen, living/dining room, and bedroom, which are spaces used for private work, the kitchen and living/dining room are adjacent to each other so that they can be accessed, and the living/dining room and bedroom are adjacent to each other so that they can be accessed. Furthermore, the bedroom and the work corner are adjacent to each other so that they can be accessed, and the pantry and the kitchen are adjacent to each other so that they can be accessed. In this way, in the layout of the house of the present invention, the work space and the private space are each grouped together, and further, the work space and the private space are connected to each other so that they can be accessed at least in two places. This is more convenient than, for example, a floor plan in which rooms used for work and rooms used for private use are arranged separately, because it is easier to move between the work space and the private space. The work space and private space are connected by multiple entrances. The bedroom and work corner are adjacent and accessible, and the pantry and kitchen are adjacent and accessible, so it is easy to move between the work space and the private space.

And one of the benefits of working from home/remotely is that it is easy to find time for childcare. In places where there are children, especially young children, childcare and work from home/remotely are often done at the same time. However, if you take the safety of the children into consideration and work close by, childcare will be done well but work will not be as good, and conversely, if you work far away, work will be done well but childcare will be difficult. The balance between these two is a difficult point in working from home/remotely, which is considered to be an ideal form of work for childcare. However, in the house of the present invention, the work corner, which is the workplace, is adjacent to the living/dining room with an interior window in between, so if you look at the interior window while working in the work corner, you can see what is happening in the living/dining room. And if you look at the interior window from the living/dining room, you can see inside the work corner. From the perspective of a parent working in the work corner, they can watch their child in the living/dining room through the window, and the partition allows them to concentrate on their work. From the perspective of a child in the living/dining room, there is the advantage that they can feel safe because their parent is on the other side of the window.

As mentioned above, due to the nature of the working style, in telecommuting/remote work, it is possible to do work in the work space while doing housework and childcare such as laundry, cleaning and cooking in the private space. However, as the number of things to do at work and in private life increases, the boundary between work and private life becomes ambiguous, and people may miss the timing to take a rest or take a longer rest than intended. In the floor plan of the present invention, the work corner and pantry, which are the workplaces, are adjacent to each other in the work space. When working in the work corner, people can take a break between work in the pantry adjacent to the work corner without having to go to the living/dining room in the private space. A place to work and a place to rest are provided within the work space. It is possible to take a break in the pantry when working at home/remote work, and in the living/dining room when doing private things such as housework or childcare.

One of the biggest advantages of working from home/remotely is the reduction of commuting time. The advantage is that the time it takes from waking up to starting work is significantly reduced. However, some people may still have psychological resistance when going from their private space to their work space. This psychological resistance can be changed in any way by devising the layout and facilities of the house where they work from home/remotely. In the layout of the house of the present invention, the work corner of the work space and the bedroom of the private space are arranged next to each other. If the bedroom and the work corner are next to each other, it is assumed that the psychological resistance when going from the bedroom to the work corner is smaller than when they are not next to each other. Since the bedroom and the work corner are next to each other, creative people such as architects, artists, and novelists can immediately put their ideas into shape in the work corner when they get an idea while sleeping or shortly after waking up.

Now, when working from home, you may communicate with those who are related to your work through communication means including telephone, SNS, and online conferences. In online conferences, your own remarks and expressions are generally distributed to other participants as audio and video. In such conferences, it is convenient to have a dedicated work space set up in your home in advance. In this invention, a room for storing things is provided adjacent to the work corner. As mentioned above, the work corner and the living and dining room are adjacent to each other with an interior window in between. In online conferences, the participants' figures and their backgrounds may be reflected, but if you hold or participate in an online conference in the work corner with your back to the interior window, there is a possibility that the living and dining room will be reflected through the interior window. Since the living and dining room is a private space, you may want to avoid distributing its image when working. Therefore, it may be inconvenient to hold or participate in an online conference with your back to the interior window. In this invention, the work corner is adjacent to a room for storing things, but as long as nothing is hung on the dividing wall and nothing is placed around it, there is no inconvenience in using it as a background for conducting or participating in online meetings, and there is no need to make any changes to the background of your own streaming video, saving you the trouble of preparation.

1 is a floor plan of a house according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a floor plan of a house according to one embodiment of the present invention.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the directional designations in the accompanying drawings are provided merely for the convenience of explanation, and of course do not limit other embodiments of the present invention. In addition, this embodiment is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit other embodiments of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the house 10 is a dwelling unit in an apartment building. The layout is designed to appropriately accommodate telecommuting/remote work. The layout is shown in Figure 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the house 10 is a generally rectangular shape that is longer in the east-west direction than in the north-south direction. The interior space of the house 10, surrounded by the partition wall 23 and the exterior wall 24, begins with the entrance 13 north of the entrance door 12, and includes the entrance hall 14 to the north of that, the second bedroom 73 to the west of the entrance hall 14, the toilet 15 and the hallway 16 to the north of the entrance hall 14, the washroom 17 to the south of the hallway 16, and the bathroom 21 further south of that. Next, the kitchen 81 is located to the east of the washroom 17, and the living-dining room 61 consisting of the living room 62 and dining room 63 to the east of that, the balcony 66 is located further east of that, the first bedroom 71 is located to the south of the living-dining room 61, the work corner 30 is located to the west of the first bedroom 71, and the pantry 50 is located further west of that. In addition, the entrance porch 11 is located south of the entrance 13, which is included in the interior space of the house 10, just beyond the entrance door 12.

First, the entrance to the house 10 is located approximately in the southwest part of the house 10. To enter the house 10 from outside, one opens the adjacent front door 12 that opens outwards from the front porch 11, and then proceeds to the front door 13 located to the north. The front door 13 is where residents of the house 10 and visitors take off their shoes, and a shoe storage shelf is provided along the partition wall on the west side of the front door 13. Next, connected to the front door 13 is the entrance hall 14. The entrance hall 14 faces the closed front door 12 in the north-south direction, with the front door 13 in between.

Next, to the west of the entrance hall 14 is the second bedroom 73. The second bedroom 73 is located at the westernmost end of the house 10. The second bedroom 73 has two storage rooms along the south wall.

Proceeding north from the entrance 13 leads to the entrance hall 14 and beyond that to the corridor 16. There are no doors, shoji screens, sliding doors or doors between the entrance hall 14 and the corridor 16, and the two form a continuous space. The corridor 16 functions to connect multiple spaces. In order to go from the entrance hall 14 to the toilet 15, washroom 17, kitchen 81 or living/dining room 61, one must go through the corridor 16 in any case.

The toilet 15, located at the northern end of the house 10, is located east of the second bedroom 73, north of the entrance hall 14, west of the hallway 16, and south of the northern part of the exterior wall 24. A hinged door is provided between the toilet 15 and the adjacent hallway 16. The toilet 15 can be accessed from the washroom 17, kitchen 81, and living/dining room 61 via the hallway 16.

The washroom 17 is adjacent to the hallway 16. Inside, a washing machine 18 and a sink 19 are provided on the west side. The washroom 17 is not adjacent to the exterior wall 24, but is adjacent to the hallway 16 to the north and the bathroom 21 to the south. The washroom 17, which is adjacent to the bathroom 21 to the south, can also be used as a dressing room when taking a bath. The bathroom 21, which is at the southern end of the interior space of the house 10, faces the hallway 16 in the north-south direction, with the washroom 17 in between.

Now, when you open the swing door from the entrance hall 14 to the end of the corridor 16, you can see the kitchen 81 to the south. The kitchen 81 has a passageway that runs in the north-south direction, but if the passageway is extended in the north direction and the corridor 16 is extended in the east direction, the two will be roughly perpendicular to each other. The equipment in the kitchen 81 includes a sink 82, a stove 83, and a refrigerator 84. The sink 82 and the stove 83 are arranged on the east wall of the kitchen 81, and the refrigerator 84 is arranged along the west wall of the kitchen 81. The kitchen 81 is adjacent to the living/dining room 61. Here, the kitchen 81 and the living/dining room 61 are separated by a partition wall 25. The height of a part of the partition wall 25 between the stove 83 and the living/dining room 61 is different from the height of a part of the partition wall 25 between the sink 82 and the living/dining room 61. A part of the partition wall 25 is provided between the stove 83 and the living/dining room 61 from the ceiling. Between the sink 82 and the living/dining room 61, a part of the partition wall 25 is provided as a waist-high wall, extending from the floor to a height approximately equal to that of the sink 82.

Next, the living/dining room 61 occupies the northeast corner of the house 10. There are three indoor routes to the living/dining room 61. For example, from the entrance hall 14, you can go east along the corridor 16 that connects to it; from the kitchen 81, you can go north and go east at the end of the hall; or from the work corner 30, you can go east and go north to the first bedroom 71. Here, the living/dining room 61 is made up of a living room 62 and a dining room 63. The living room 62, which can also be used as a place for happy gatherings with family and friends, occupies the eastern space of the living/dining room 61 in the northeast corner. The living room 62 is equipped with a sofa, table, and television, and one of the roles of these facilities is to elevate the living room 62 to a place with a peaceful atmosphere. It creates a comfortable, calm, and relaxed feeling.

Next, a balcony 66 is provided outdoors to the east of the living room 62. Between the balcony 66 and the living room 62, there is a window 67 that is an entrance for entering and exiting between them, and the window 67 is provided in the exterior wall 24 at the boundary between the balcony 66 and the indoor space of the house 10. The balcony 66 extends straight in the north-south direction over almost the entire eastern area of the exterior wall 24 of the house 10. On the other hand, the dining room 63, which occupies the western space of the living/dining room 61 in the northeast corner of the house 10, is a place for eating. The dining room 63 has a table and chairs for eating. The dining room 63 is a space that is continuous with the living room 62, and there is no partition wall between them. The dining room 63 is adjacent to the kitchen 81 on a part of the west side, the work corner 30 on a part of the south side, and the first bedroom 71 on a part of the south side. As described above, a waist-high wall is provided at the boundary between the living/dining room 61 and the sink 82, and part of the kitchen 81 can be seen from the dining room 63. The same is true in reverse. A single sliding door that allows access between the dining room 63 and the first bedroom 71 is installed in the partition wall between the living/dining room 61 and the first bedroom 71.

The first bedroom 71 is located in the southeast corner of the house 10. The facilities in the first bedroom 71 include a bed. There are two ways to get to the first bedroom 71 from other rooms in the house 10. One is to enter by opening a single sliding door from the dining room 63 located north of the first bedroom 71, and the other is to enter through the hanging wall 36 from the work corner 30 located west of the first bedroom 71. A window other than the window 67 serves as an entrance for entering and exiting the first bedroom 71 and the balcony 66. Furthermore, part of the west side of the first bedroom 71 is adjacent to the storage room 72. The storage room 72 is adjacent to the work corner 30 on the north side, the exterior wall 24 on the west side, and the partition wall 23 on the south side. There is a partition wall between the storage room 72 and the work corner 30.

Thus, the work corner 30 provides a suitable place for working from home/remotely. The work corner 30 is adjacent to the dining room 63. The work corner 30 is equipped with a work counter 31, a shelf 34, and a chair 35. The work counter 31 is a custom-made desk. The work counter 31 is provided along the waist-high wall 32 at the boundary between the work corner 30 and the dining room 63. The top surface of the work counter 31 is at a height slightly lower than the lower end edge of the interior window 33. The work counter 31 is provided with an outlet for electronic devices used in the work corner 30 nearby. The interior window 33 gently connects the work corner 30 and the dining room 63. The interior window 33 allows a view of the living/dining room 61 from the work corner 30. The interior window 33 is divided vertically and horizontally by partition materials. Parts of each window of the interior window 33 divided vertically and horizontally can be opened. The shelf 34 is provided next to the interior window 33. Books, documents, and small items used for work can be placed on the shelves 34. The chairs 35 are used together with the work counter 31. The waist-high wall 32 is provided between the work corner 30 and the dining room 63. The waist-high wall 32 is a wall that extends from the floor to a certain height, and an interior window 33 is provided from above the wall to the ceiling. A hanging wall 36 is provided between the work corner 30 and the first bedroom 71. Access between the work corner 30 and the pantry 50 is possible via a hinged door.

Next, a pantry 50 is arranged in the approximate center of the house 10. A kitchen 81 is located to the north of the pantry 50, a work corner 30 is located to the east, and a bathroom 21 is located to the west. The pantry 50 can be accessed from the adjacent kitchen 81 through a single sliding door 52. The pantry 50 can be accessed from the adjacent work corner 30 through a hinged door. The pantry 50 has a built-in shelf 51 on which a coffee maker and sweets can be placed. The shelf 51 is provided along the western wall of the pantry 50. An outlet is provided near the shelf 51 as a power source in the pantry 50. The pantry 50 also has a sink. The sink can be recessed into the lower part of the shelf 51. A ceiling light with a speaker can be provided on the ceiling of the pantry 50, allowing people to take a break while listening to music and drinking coffee.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail, but there is also the following embodiment.

First, as a premise for this embodiment, homes generally have smaller storage capacities than large offices with large storage capacities. In a typical home, the space for storing items related to telecommuting/remote work is limited, due in part to the need to balance it with other household items inside the home. When setting up a workspace for telecommuting/remote work inside the home, one of the keys to making the work experience easier is not just to secure a place to actually work, but also to consider in advance where to store the equipment and consumables used for work.

In FIG. 2, the walk-in closet 38, which is a room for storing things, is separated from the work corner 30 by fittings, and a wall is provided on the boundary between the walk-in closet 38 and the first bedroom 71. Since the walk-in closet 38 is adjacent to the work corner 30, electronic devices, auxiliary equipment, documents, and other items used for telecommuting/remote work can be stored in the walk-in closet 38 if a suitable storage space cannot be provided in the work corner 30, expanding the scope of the work space and improving convenience.

The house of the present invention has industrial applicability as it ensures ventilation, pursues convenience, provides an environment for both childcare and work, provides a place to take a break between work, and is designed to allow work to begin quickly, providing a workplace ideal for working from home/remotely.

10 Residence 30 Work corner 38 Walk-in closet 50 Pantry 61 Living/dining room 62 Living room 63 Dining room 71 First bedroom 72 Storage room 81 Kitchen

Claims (1)

kitchen,
Living and dining room,
bedroom,
A work corner with a built-in work counter, shelves, and chairs, allowing employees to work from home.
Pantry, and
A room for storing things,
A house equipped with
Two different spaces are provided that are adjacent and can be accessed from one another.
The kitchen and the living/dining room,
The living/dining room and the bedroom,
said bedroom and said work corner,
The work corner and the pantry, and
The pantry and the kitchen,
Established
The living/dining room and the work corner, and
The kitchen and the work corner are not adjacent to each other,
The bedroom, the work corner, and the pantry are arranged in a straight line so that they can be accessed from one another,
The work corner and the room for storing items are adjacent to each other,
This is a house that supports a life with a work corner, characterized in that the work corner and the living/dining room are adjacent to each other with an interior window in between.

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