Takeshi Hirobe Architects

I want a big grassy patio."
This is where the planning for this residence began.

The site is located in the suburbs of Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. The site is located in the suburbs of Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, where a low-rise residential area with a wind development district has been formed by gradually opening up a slope. The site was originally a single parcel, which was divided into two parts from east to west.

There are various parameters for the conditions to form a courthouse, but after conducting many studies, we felt that completely enclosing the site with walls would not work well here. The reason is that the houses are located in a spacious area with an open atmosphere with a lot of plantings due to the wind conditions. Therefore, we chose to create a courthouse-like sense of enclosure by enclosing a certain area with the building itself and combining it with plantings, rather than with walls.

In order to make the larger site feel more efficient and to accommodate the garage and other functions, the plan is broken at two obtuse angles. This was a cost-effective alternative to enclosing the entire site with a wall-like element.

To create a large lawn surface, the resulting corridors and staircase area were stretched out, creating a somewhat strange sense of distance for a single residence. Although the scale of each room is assumed to be sufficient for necessity, this sense of distance gives each area a feeling of marginality.

The exterior walls are plastered with dark brown painted walls brushed with a "coffee milk color," as the owner likened it. The interior space is made to show as much of the wooden structure as possible.

Whenever I visit a wooden construction site, I am always attracted to the fresh structure immediately after construction. Here, we have tried to show the beauty of the structure as it is just after construction, but with the utmost care.

The curved structure of the house, with its atrium, creates a very dynamic aspect around the living room. The light is guided through the structure at various times of the day.

The creation of a "sense of distance" was the most important aspect of the design of this house. The daily activities of looking at the living room from the bedroom, looking at the children's room from the Japanese-style room, walking down the long corridor... These daily activities lead us to feel the sense of territory derived from the site to the maximum extent possible.