House in Maruyama

This is a house for an active husband, a quiet wife, and two children, located in Naka Ward, Okayama City. The site is located in a residential area from a busy road heading east from the city center. The west side of the site is a vacant lot that is used as a parking lot, so it was open and felt bright and spacious.

The client's request was for a small house with a space that minimizes the view from the outside but is open and has greenery and a space where you can enjoy cooking and dining.

In response to these requests, we made the main room the dining room and kitchen, and thought that the family could relax and live a rich life through greenery and food. The design of a small house emphasizes the connection of space and the clearness of the line of sight. Therefore, we wanted to create a space with air volume while being compact in plan. The main room is 4.5m square and the ceiling is 4.6m high. The opening that connects to the exterior wooden deck was designed to be as small as 1.5m square so that the greenery of the garden can be seen while blocking the line of sight from the outside. The living room will be a relaxing space with tatami mats and will be a bedroom for the couple in the future. By knowing that the study corner facing the atrium and the private room that will be the children's room are not partitioned and are one space, even if you are on a different floor, you can feel the presence of a family. In the hallway on the 2nd floor, we set up a bookshelf that stretches to the ceiling, and set up a study and closet in the back. The opening was intentionally made low so that remote work could be confined.

We thought it would be best to have the simplest possible exterior that envelops the space with its large air volume, so we adopted a gabled roof with a large, warm slope and baked cedar boards for the outer walls.

A space with a large air volume spreads the light that enters through the small openings throughout the space, creating a family connection while securing a place for each individual. Outside, the husband enjoys his kitchen garden, while his wife and children enjoy the flowers and plants.