Home Libraries that Take Book Storage to the Next Level

In most multistory homes, stairs connect floors. But in the 921-square-foot Coil house, located in a quiet residential neighborhood in Tokyo, they are the floors. Defined by 44 steps of varying depths and widths, Coil is a dynamic swirl of continuously ascending spaces, designed by local architect Akihisa Hirata for Sakura and Ryo Sugiura, a young couple with two children. The space-efficient design features a bookshelf hung on the wall adjacent to the staircase.

Ran and her brother, Gen, read on one of the structure’s 44 continuous steps.