Hasta La Ideas

This metal-clad house in Chiba, Japan, was designed by architect Yuji Kimura to fill its site, meaning a car-parking space and balcony had to be slotted within its boxy volume (+ slideshow).

Yuji Kimura gave House in Chiba a galvanised steel exterior, punctuated by an assortment of square windows. A mesh door slides open to reveal the parking space in one corner, while a secluded balcony is located directly above.

The balcony is enclosed on all sides, but open to the sky. It also has a mesh floor, which allows light to enter both of the house’s two storeys.

“[The house] was planned to be a shape that surrounds the entire site, provided that the balcony and parking lot also serve as lighting,” said Kimura.

Residents enter the house through the garage, which leads through to bedroom and bathroom spaces on the ground floor. According to Kimura, these spaces require the least natural light.

Living, dining and kitchen areas occupy one double-height space on the level above so they can receive the most sunlight. Glass screens slide back to open this space out to the balcony.

The kitchen features a stainless steel counter, while the living space is filled with furniture on wheels that allows the occupants to easily change the layout.

A ladder provides access to a mezzanine loft that, like the rest of the house, features wooden flooring. The architect expects this to be used for storage.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a description from Yuji Kimura Design:

House in Chiba

This house has the appearance of a simple box, shaped like a factory, where large and small square holes create a visual rhythm that opens at random. The site is located in a corner lot where the two roads of a quiet residential area of Chiba Prefecture where suburbs cross.

The request from the owner when planning:
1. Bright and Large Living
2. Balcony with Privacy
3. Simple and appearance like a factory

In order to secure privacy, the house takes in light from the road side with no obstacles. It was planned to be a shape that surrounds the entire site, provided that the balcony and parking lot also serves as a lighting.

Since the whole is a simple big box-shaped, by setting the bare dare joints such as bolts and rail, a garage gate and gate is prevented from too much minimal. Moreover, the arrangement of square holes of various sizes, such as are open to random, the opening is making a visual rhythm.

A bedroom being only the sleeping purpose and spending most of time in living and dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom were placed in the first floor, a dining room and a living room were placed in the sunniest place of the second floor. Provided with a large opening in the living room, so that is out on the balcony.

There is also a sliding door with storage space in the kitchen back side, refrigerator, washing machine, household goods are placed in it.
The atrium part, by providing a loft that can be up and down the ladder, and in consideration for storage.

Location: Chiba, Japan
Design: Yuji Kimura Design
Site area: 84.10 sqm
Building area: 41.13 sqm
Total area: 82.26 sqm
Structure: timber

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and balcony behind its walls appeared first on Dezeen.

In our second story today from Japanese firm Ryo Matsui Architects, a glazed facade reveals the two-storey interior of a house-shaped hair salon in Chiba, Japan (+ slideshow).

Ryo Matsui Architects designed the Hairdo beauty salon with a simple interior of plain white walls and timber surfaces, leaving roof trusses and other structural elements exposed.

Located next to Chiba’s train station, the salon’s transparent frontage allows pedestrians to look straight through and see what’s happening on both floors of the building.

“The big glass facade viewed from the frontal road raises the internal aspect and contributes a sense of unity,” the architects explained.

Glass entrance doors lead into a reception and waiting area that occupies the front half of the ground floor.

A row of mirrors and chairs are fixed down the side of the far wall, while a shampoo and colour area is tucked away at the rear along with a small courtyard.

Upstairs, a styling area covers much of the large open-plan space, with a staff room and extra shampoo area towards the back.

Photography is by Daici Ano.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Hairdo hair salon

This salon is located in the prefectural road in front of Chiba Station where a monorail comes and goes.

We planned the two-story hair salon. In a condition called the ten years fixed-term land leasehold, it is required the coexistence as an intelligent architecture and effective interior.

In the big roof covering the second floor as a main, it is made from a gabled roof-shaped by the warren truss with a light steel frame.

It is matched up steel materials as thin as possible, for example chord members of 60×60mm, lattices of 40×40mm, and roof purlins of 60×30mm.

The contrast of the structure painted white and sheathing boards, applying to the furniture and fixtures, let them fused their visual expression.

The facade of the big glass viewed from the frontal road, raises the internal aspect contributed a sense of unity.

In restrictive temporal axis, it is expected that the salon is integrated into as a picture frame of the city to contribute to local activation.

Building Site: Chiba-shi, Chiba
Principal Use: Hair salon
Architect: Ryo Matsui Architects Inc.
Structural Design: Ryo Kuwako
Construction: Nichinan Iron Corporation
Site Area: 141.99 m² Shampoo Area
Architectural Area: 106.7 m²
Total Floor Area: 220.8 m²
1st Floor Area: 113.41 m²
2nd Floor Area: 106.67 m²
Structure: Steel construction

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This house for a surgeon in Chiba, Japan, by Apollo Architects & Associates contains courtyards with elevated wooden walkways and glass walls behind its thick concrete exterior (+ slideshow).

The residence was designed for a busy street in Yotsukaido City, so Apollo Architects & Associates used chunky slabs of reinforced concrete to create a soundproofed barrier around the interior spaces.

“[The client] requested privacy and quietness for his wife and three children to lead healthy lives,” explain the architects.

The largest of the three courtyards sits beyond a sheltered driveway and contains a grass lawn and a central tree, while the second is positioned past the entrance and accommodates a pebble surface and a small maple tree.

The smallest court is tucked away at the back to offer a small outdoor area for the main bedroom and bathroom.

“The family can enjoy different atmospheres in these courtyards,” say the architects.

Two staircases lead up to the living room and the children’s room on the first floor. One is indoors and built from wood, but the second is a series of concrete treads that rise up from the grassy courtyard.

Wooden balconies overlook the courtyards from above and residents can look into different rooms through glass walls.

The house is named Still and was completed in spring 2012.

Tokyo-based Apollo Architects & Associates is led by Satoshi Kurosaki. The studio has designed a number of houses since launching in 2000, including Lift in Sendai with a pointy overhang and Damier in Tokyo which has a chequered facade. See more houses designed by Apollo Architects & Associates.

Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.

Here’s some more information from Apollo Architects & Associates:

Still

The client acquired the 330 m2 orthogonal property located along the road in pursuit of a space to rest his body and soul exhausted from his work as a surgeon. He requested privacy and quietness for his wife and three children to lead healthy lives. The building is set back from the frontal street where heavy vehicles pass by regularly. Parking space is secured for three cars. Reinforced concrete structure is chosen for its soundproofing ability. The opening is kept to a small horizontal ribbon window to block the noise and automobile emissions.

The client purchased this property sized over 300 m2 for a purpose of creating courtyards with tall symbolic trees. There is a compact court with a maple tree in front of the entrance. Across the central corridor is the main court. And, toward the back of the site is a narrow bathroom court. The family can enjoy different atmospheres in these courtyards.

The master bedroom and bathroom are located in the quiet area far from the street so that the residents can relax while viewing the garden. Each space offers its unique ambience. For example, in the study adjacent to the bedroom, the residents are able to carry out their professional work, or in the Japanese room facing the entrance court, they could relax and enjoy the space while sitting on the floor.

The family space on the second floor is a single space surrounded by full-height glazing. Across the central corridor, the children’s room/study space is located. The space can be separated into individual rooms in the future. The other characteristic of this house is that the residents can experience the circulation space as they cross between inside and outside, thanks to the central corridor and roof balcony connecting the main building and annex. It is the ultimate luxury to lead a slow-paced life and enjoy the changing seasons.

The post Still by Apollo Architects
& Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Customers sit at large wooden frames in this hair salon by Japanese studio Three.Ball.Cascade in Chiba, Japan.

Called Luce Hair, the salon is divided by the wooden structures, some of which contain mirrors to create work stations while others remain empty, framing the space.

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Kashiwa hairdresser

Local development still proceeds in a corner, where it is expected that future urbanization.

This plan, as beauty is in the relatively large space, placing four chairs were asked a simple space. The beauty of the common market because it was fairly low-cost.

Possible difficulty in making the space operations of an existing skeleton, with plans to build only the required minimum of functionality.

Surface set (haircut chair and mirror space), a 120 mm × architectural uses such as beams for structural use of laminated wood 450 mm, Kina Hiroshi produced the dresser.

Dresser and normal scale by using different, whether there is a mirror there, and you do not know which side is visible.

Making an ambiguous space.

LOCATION: Kashiwa, Chiba
TOTAL AREA: 125 sqm

See also:

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Hair salon by moomoo architects	Kilico hair salon by Makoto Yamaguchi	Boa Hairdressers Salon by Claudia Meier