Yuji Tanabe Architects

//A house like a ship//
The owner's request was to sleep with peace of mind and enjoy the morning sun comfortably. The bedroom in the main building (flat building) on the east side of the site is on the first floor and close to the eastern road, so he slept with some anxiety.
This house is like a ship. A ship consists of a hull that is in contact with the water surface with the deck as a boundary, and a pilothouse and cabin above it. Since the deck of this building goes around four laps while overhanging, it is not possible to climb from below, which means that it creates a clear boundary between the hull and the cabin on the outside. The sturdy hull is made of concrete and the light cabin is made of wood (partially steel), which seems to float on the raised ground / surface.

//Horizontal, vertical and diagonal//
A house located in the forest of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Karuizawa is a very popular place as a mountain resort in Japan. The site slopes gently to the south with Mt. Asama in the background. It is an area that is said to have been damaged by pyroclastic flows due to the eruption of Mt. Asama about 900 years ago, and lava stones called “Asama stones” appear immediately after digging the site. Therefore, the water drainage is good, and it is an area with relatively low humidity in Karuizawa. The car approaches the south side of the building from the east and south roads through the trees of Quercus crispula and Quercus serrata, and fits under the eaves on the first floor. The shed roof extends about 20m with the north side under the water for the reason of taking in the sunlight on the south side and not dropping snow on the parking lot. This proportion was decided from the plan of the part where the ceiling height is low and the shade regulation to the adjacent land. The outer corridor, which continues from the large deck-shaped balcony on the south side of the second floor, goes around the building while shifting according to the slope of the roof. The floor level of the second floor is partially different in the building according to this continuously changing roof slope too. On the first floor, a semi-public space that looks like a combination of the entrance hall, office, and guest room is planned while changing horizontally / X-axis and Y-axis (sometimes popping out). Then, on the north side of the building, it connects to the second floor through a stairwell extending in the vertical direction / Z axis. The second floor, which changes the form to the Z axis, also creates a space where they can coexist by unifying the flooring with wood in the private space where the bed, kitchenette, dining table and bathtub are placed. The opening is mainly on the east side to take in the morning sunshine and because of the good view of the surrounding scenery. The structure was a mixed structure, so it was important to balance the wooden and concrete structures. Specifically, the large outdoor decks, pillars and beams in the private space on the second floor with a high ceiling and no pillars, and RC walls and beams on the first floor that are conscious of the second floor. The facilities are equipped with FF type(Forced Draught Balanced Flue) heating with kerosene in the main living room, heat storage type floor heating on the first floor, and wall heating on a part of the wall on the second floor. Therefore, the plan is to make it available to owners who frequently travel to and from Tokyo throughout the year. In the exterior plan, an outdoor space is formed with local Asama stone on the east side while making use of existing trees. The continuity of the wooden approach on the first floor, the outer corridor on the second floor, and the eaves of the roof overlap in three layers. They cut out the scenery while spreading in the sky, and the diagonal lines can be felt from the interior too.