Hasta La Ideas

A stark concrete multi-purpose space occupies the ground floor of this house in Osaka by Japanese architect Takeshi Hamada.

This sound-proofed studio/gallery space within the three storey House A is used for live music performances, art exhibitions and social gatherings.

The two upper levels of the house contain the private living areas and feature exposed timber columns and beams, as well as natural lighting.

Photography is by Yohei Sasakura.

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Here is some more information from the architect:

House A

Concept
Narrow house in downtown, low cost, live studio, mixed structure

Background, Atmosphere

The location is Abeno-ward Osaka, Japan. Though it is a superb location just 10 minutes from Tennoji Station, it is in the downtown streets filled with traditional emotion, there are traditional tenement houses, old houses and shops, just 1 block from the main street. I planned the house in the narrow vacant land for 56-square-meters in this area. The house is light and open, and the residents can enjoy their hobbies.

Its owner, K families, those are a couple and one daughter, like music. Especially, their daughter, who is 27 years old, is a musician and received fifth winner in the recital. This family requested “Hobby Room, Live Studio” in their house that they can enjoy music. Sometimes, they will open mini concert with other band members and usually, they will use the room as an art gallery. And sometimes, they want to have a party with close friends by drinking. To maximize the locality with good access, that can create linkages between people through hobbies, such space was required.

Architectural Plan

Use as a distribution, I planned the first floor for “Hobby Room (studio and gallery and bar, live) ” and a few floors as a living space. For Live Studio, because high sound insulation is required, I used the RC sturucture for the first floor, and I considered soundproof for doors, sashs, ventilators, and among others. On the other hand, I tried to make cost down in total for the second and the third floor, by using simple space of Japanese traditional wooden structure.

Facade Picture

RC Fair – faced with a facade of spraying material. Stainless steel bay window adds accents.

The first floor, “Hobby Room”

To ensure maximum width of the building, the concrete formwork for the construction with adjacent separator and exterior insulation was used. As a result, interior walls and ceiling are fair – faced the decorative RC. For the floor, I adopted used scaffold boards of cedar wood. For the flexibility to cope with the internal scene, the lighting equipment and orientation can be adjusted to the light.

The third floor, LDK
To achieve low cost, a few floor living space has a simple wooden structure and space. Especially, the third floor studio is a one room space with no joinery. By exposing the column and beam with bracing, the spatial and visual spread is ensured. The floor is solid wood used in unpainted pine. Since the change in color and luster through the years, they can enjoy the aging of the material.

The Second Floor
There are daughter’s and parents’ bedroom with bath, toilet and kitchen. Since it’s difficult to get enough light by approaching the neighbours, I used top lights and side lights to receive natural ligjhts as much as possible. The floor is solid wood used in unpainted pine.

Live Scene
Once or twice a month, band friends of the owner gather to perform a concert. Live in the past, overcrowded by standing audience, ended in great success.

Overview
House Name: “House A”
Location: Abeno-ward, Osaka, JAPAN
Construction: August 2010 – March 2011
Structure: First Floor – Reinforced Concrete, Second and Third Floor – Wooden Structure
Site Area: 59.34 sq m
Building Area: 45.82 sq m
Floor Area: 128.28 sq m; 1F (43.66 sq m) 2F (54.82 sq m) 3F (38.80 sq m)
Architect: Takeshi Hamada

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House in Kohgo by Yutaka Yoshida Architect & Associates	Knot by Apollo Architects & Associates	House in Minamimachi 3 by Suppose Design Office

Here’s another house in Sendai, Japan, by Apollo Architects & Associates (see their Edge House in our earlier story) that features a pointy overhang.

The living areas are located on the first floor and lead out onto a terrace with sloping facade, which cantilevers over a car port below.

Slits in the enclosed terrace allow slight views out to the street.

A bedroom, storage and music room are all arranged on the ground floor around a central corridor that leads out onto a little courtyard.

A child’s bedroom is located at the rear of the house on the upper level, separated from the living room and kitchen by the courtyard.

Photographs are by Masao Nishikawa.

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Here is some more information from the architects:

This urban residence is located in a residential district in downtown Sendai. Constructed out of wood without the use of any pilotis or other supporting structures, the building features an upper floor that protrudes dramatically outward in order to ensure adequate parking space for two cars on a lot with restricted frontage.

The size of the windows and other openings on the closed facade of the building have been kept to an absolute minimum as a precaution against crime, as well as a privacy feature.

In contrast, the interior of the house, which centers on the internal courtyard, is an open, generous and well-lit expanse of space. The first floor houses several small, comfortable private spaces, such as a bedroom and audio room.

The second floor has been conceived as a single, continuous space filled with natural light, allowing unobstructed lines of sight and free-flowing ventilation.

The tatami-floored living room enjoys the “borrowed landscape” (shakkei) of maple trees in the courtyard, creating a tranquil atmosphere that allows the inhabitants to forget the fact that they are in the city.

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Light reflected by the louvers on the slanted facade help to create a bright interior. The louvers also serve to obstruct lines of sight into the house from the outside while allowing the residents clear, unobstructed views of the exterior from inside the building.

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The children’s room that straddles the central courtyard was designed in such a way as to separate it from the ﾒwombﾓ of the main building. The variety of scenery provided by each of these spaces is a particular perk of living in urban residences located in the heart of the city.

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The notion of the urban residential building can no longer be confined just to Tokyo: it has now become firmly established as a sensible, intelligent concept that can be applied to all cities.

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For modern urbanites, the lifestyles resulting from these small spaces offer them a more comfortable living environment than residences that are larger than necessary.

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Flow by Apollo Architects & Associates	Torreagüera Vivienda Atresada by Xpiral	MAK Gallery by Space International

Japanese studio Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates have completed a weekend house in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, where two gabled structures are separated by a walled courtyard.

The house is divided into two parts with a double-height open-plan room on one side of the courtyard, and the bathroom and storage space on the other.

The bedroom, kitchen and dining room are all in one room, with a free-standing wall creating a partition.

Photographs are by Kazunori Fujimoto.

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Here’s some more information from the architect:

House in Nasu

This is a weekend house built in the area height of above sea level 550m, in Nasu-town, Tochigi Prefecture.

Though in the resort town, the road and the neighbor houses are near by the site, and it seems difficult to keep a privacy.

So we aimed to make an indoor space like a Scandinavian soft interiors instead of the room open directly to the outside .

The surrounding’s tall trees blur the outline of the house, and the interior, they give the abstract light, shade, and many of colors.

It is one-room space that has two big windows and a concrete wall.

By the two windows the room connected to the outside environment.

Closing the white curtains, all symbols as “house” are hidden, and the color and materials that can be seen are limited, still more, the abstract space is filled calm atmosphere.

The inside concrete wall like “monolith” divide the space generously, and put the life in order.

Location: Nasu, Tochigi, Japan
Main use: weekend house

Site area: 504m2

Building area: 85.44m2

Total floor area: 85.44m2

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Design term: 2009

Construction term: 2010

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House in Sunami by Kazunori Fujimoto	House in Koamicho by Suppose Design Office	House in Ise by Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates

Japanese studio Hidehiro Fukuda Architects have completed this house lined with oriented strand board in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan.

Called Duplex House in Tokito, the project was designed to house two families.

The two adjacent faceted rectangular structures are connected by a central corridor.

Little square windows are arranged irregularly.

See also: Double House by Tsuyoshi Kawata.

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Photographs are by Hidehiro Fukuda.

Here’s a bit of text from the architects:

duplex house in tokito

”duplex house in tokito” was designed to function as both a two-family home and an atelier, in a quiet residential area in Hakodate City, Hokkaido.

”Paper crane” was employed as our design concept, because we wanted to express the two generation’s long, happy life together. In Japan there is a tradition to give ”origami cranes” to loved ones, wishing them a long life.

We allocated two layers of space on the park side, and one layer on the neighbor’s house side, leaving a narrow space in the center. This narrow interspace became a path which connects the entrance hall and the terrace.

Even though it was inside of the house, we chose the same materials as the house exterior for the walls, and a transparent material for the roof, so that the parents who have a difficulty going out the door could feel as if they were outside.

The space architecture is constructed in order to represent the same philosophy as the room appearance. At the area appearing like a bird, opening her wings, an atelier and the Buddhist altar rooms are settled.

Where the area looks like a bird resting, a living room and a bed room are settled. Structural design, done by Ryouzo Umezawa, is created only by the periphery. So, the partition wall can be placed freely.

The wall is entirely represented in white. All rooms are connected with white space and passages. Diagonal lines joining roofs represent orientation of the interior landscape transforming gradually.

Architects: Hidehiro Fukuda architects
Location: hakodate, hokkaido,japan
Project architect: Hidehiro Fukuda , Hajime Kagoshima
Structural engineer: Ryozo Umezawa
Project area: 152.28sqm

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The Cubby House by Edwards Moore	Shelf-Pod by Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio	Fiat Lux by Label Architecture

Japanese architecture firm Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates have completed this house in Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

The project comprises two adjacent volumes with inclined roofs, connected by a central atrium.

Large glazed walls inside the house frame views of the surrounding landscape.

Living spaces are arranges round the atrium, while a bedroom and family room on the second floor  lead out onto a roof terrace.

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Here’s some more information from the architects:

House in Ise

The building is located on high ground with lush greenery and a bluff that overlooks the beautiful Miyagawa-River flowing north-south through Ise City.

The Intention was to create a rich relationship between the house and these surroundings.

The building is composed of two volumes arranged in parallel.

A vertical void links the rooftop terrace and the light court on the first floor, drawing nature into the interior.

On the first floor, a horizontal void connected directly to the vertical one opens up a view of Miyagawa River.

The interaction of these external voids – the way they intersect and connect with interior spaces – generates richer, more complex scenery throughout the building as a whole.

Rooms are arranged around the light court, which extends into the entrance such that Miyagawa River bursts into view when the door is opened.

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The eastern volume’s first floor contains the living, dining and kitchen areas central to everyday life.

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The large opening dug from its northern end offers dramatic views of Ise and Miyagawa.

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The aluminum flooring’s dull sheen gently amplifies the illumination from the light court and reflects a variety of natural transitions onto the white interior.

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The second floor contains family space and a bedroom in an enclosed area with a sloped ceiling.

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Milky-white natural light entering through slits in the roof wraps the interior in a soft, subdued atmosphere.

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The western volume’s first floor contains the garage and a study.

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The long, relatively low opening in the study enables eyes weary from reading to rest with a view of the abundant greenery outside.

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The rooftop terrace and light court are open to Miyagawa area’s natural scenery and afford excellent vantage points for the summer fireworks festival.

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The building’s white exterior walls both reflect the fresh green of spring and catch the shadows cast by bare branches under the setting sun of late autumn.

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Such changing scenery is sure to create precious memories for the family that calls this house home.

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63.02° house by Schemata Architecture Office	Usuki House by Tonoma	Double House by Tsuyoshi Kawata