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The house’s curved serpentine footprint creates unique site lines.
Each window is carefully placed to optimize views from the interior and maximize privacy from the exterior.
With a site area of 173.92 square meters, the house creates 108.06 square meters of floor space. The space of the lower floor is defined by stained black wood, while upstairs is light and open. Ceiling heights vary throughout, creating spaces that are at once open but still offer a degree of privacy. The layout has unexpected connections and inclusions. For instance, a small glazed courtyard sits between the family space to the front of the house and the tranquil back end that contains the main bedroom and tatami room above. Filled with bamboo trees, the courtyard allows light to filter in from above, giving even the most private nook of the house dappled leafy natural light all year round.
Like the prow of a ship, a front-end balcony juts out overlooking the neighborhood to the forested hills beyond. Openings above and to the side continue the structure’s play of open and closed, public and private, while removable sudare blinds can block summer heat. The balcony is balanced on slim pillars, creating shaded exterior space below.
The overall asymmetrical design creates a sense of balance: contrast + contrast = visual harmony. With a small footprint, natural materials and a unique design open to and respectful of its lush and historic environment, the house adds to the already abundant beauty of its surroundings.
SMALL FOOTPRINT
NATURAL MATERIALS
BORROWED LANDSCAPE
RESPECTFUL OF CONTEXT/GOOD NEIGHBOR
Views of the verdant Kamakura hills from the kitchen/dining area.
The bamboo courtyard adds interior green and visually connects the varying areas and levels of the house.
HOUSE IN KOMAE
ARCHITECT ARCHITECT CAFÉ—MIKIO TAI
LOCATION KOMAE, TOKYO
COMPLETION 2013
The multi-part house occupies less than half the site, leaving the rest for gardens.
The House in Komae’s design aims to create a countryside-like atmosphere in a dense suburb of Tokyo. The architect, Mikio Tai, founder of architect café, took inspiration from the Japanese engawa (see page 80), an intermediary corridor-like space between house and garden in traditional Shoin architecture, to explore how the house would interact with its surroundings in all four seasons. As the architect explained: “Though the area has many green and vacant spaces, most buildings are closely packed,” leaving little space for green. In order to bring a sense of nature into the daily life of the house, he aimed to “create a new relationship between inside and outside”.
The house plot, at 257 square meters, is relatively large for Tokyo. Land is expensive in Tokyo and thus most builders try to use every centimeter of ground permitted by law to build the biggest house possible. The House in Komae’s design bucked this trend and instead offered a multi-part house plan occupying less that half of the site (only 101 square meters), leaving the rest of the land for trees, garden and exterior courtyards. The result is a unique two-story home with 154.66 square meters of living space and green views from every room.
Clad in red cedar, the house is composed of four boxes of different sizes and functions that are connected to each other by ancillary corridors, exterior courtyards and a long garden along the east side of the house. The layout is designed to ensure all spaces open to courtyards and/or gardens.
The largest of four boxes connected by corridors, courtyards and gardens.
The double-height living/kitchen/dining area opens onto an inner courtyard.
The first box is a single-level garage, which faces the street. Next to it, a freestanding cedar wall discreetly shields the flagstone path that leads to the main entrance at the side of the second box. This extra high single-level structure is where guests are greeted and shoes and coats are removed. A short glass corridor leads along a courtyard into the largest two-story volume, containing the heart of the house: a double-height living/kitchen/dining area with stairs leading up to a loft-like balcony and a small bedroom. Broad glazed openings on both levels overlook the courtyard. The final box holds three bedrooms. The ground floor contains the master bedroom and bathroom and there are two bedrooms above. Corridors connect both levels to the main building.
The interior employs a pale Japanese ash wood for floors, storage units and some ceilings, creating a contrast with the dark reddish cedar exterior. Flat roofs are covered with gravel, which acts as natural insulation and echoes the gravel used in the gardens. The gardens and several mature trees on the site offer welcome shade in summer and allow more light into the house in winter.
The life of the house can take place inside or out depending on season and weather but will always have some connection to its natural surroundings. “This,” said the architect, “is part of the sustainable spirit of Japanese architecture.”
ECO MATERIALS
SMALL FOOTPRINT
DESIGN ADDS GREENERY
TRADITIONAL GREEN DESIGN
Engawa-inspired corridors link interior spaces and visually connect the inside and outside.
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