Narrow-Lot House

A very talented friend of mine, who has an architectural background, is looking for property in a peripheral-urban area. I am encouraging him to buy an inexpensive, derelict lot and then design and build his own house out of concrete. I did this concept design in SketchUp over the weekend to get some ideas rolling. Considering that it would be plopped down between buildings, the sides have no windows but that is made up by top-level, floor-to-ceiling/wall-to-wall windows on the front and back (preferably bullet-proof), multiple skylights and a decent-size atrium with either a fair-weather retractable roof or a permanent glass covering. The atrium includes a sculpture and fountain and a staircase that leads to the flat roof for recreational access and maintenance. The negative space of the staircase is cut out on the outside of the structure, and could be used for storage spaces for weed-taming gardening devices. The inside front section would have a two-floor fire place, and both front