Yo Yamagata Architects

Making the Civil Engineering Structure Your Ally.　

The site is located on the edge of a residential area built on a slope in the suburbs of Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture, with a view of Mt.

The location was unique in that it could be viewed from quite a distance in various directions. The site gradually comes into view in front of the house as you walk up the gently curving approach slope. The majority of the site was occupied by an 8-meter-high retaining wall, and the flat area was only a small triangular space. A house for a family of four was required on this site. When we first visited the site, we felt that we wanted to make good use of this unique situation. Specifically, we wanted to take advantage of the overwhelming presence of the retaining wall, a fault-like civil engineering structure that runs across the site in a north-south direction for approximately 300 meters and has a height of 5 to 8 meters.

In order not to overburden the aging retaining wall, we excavated 3m into the ground and inserted an underground section of reinforced concrete construction into the retaining wall. This concrete box rests on steel pipe piles about 4 m long that reached the support layer. In this basement section, bedrooms and various rooms for water supply were placed. The basement has a garden on the west side, surrounded by walls on three sides and open only to the west. It is a space with a sense of security, like a cave dug into the cliff.

The wooden ground floor is placed on top of the basement, which is dug into the retaining wall. The first floor, which required a large area, overhangs the basement to the south. This part is reinforced with steel braces. The above-ground portion is a tubular space that varies in width and height while being continuous in the north-south direction. The west wall has a horizontal slit window, through which a limited view of the landscape is shown. The space directs the viewer's attention to the south.

The basement, which is a contrasting space, is connected to the ground level only by a spiral stairwell. Light pours down from the top of this atrium, and a light steel spiral staircase floats above the wooden mass of the staircase.

Looking at the site from the main road running along the west side, one can see beyond the rice paddies a north-south retaining wall about 8 meters high, and on the slope above it, a row of houses in a residential area continues. The existing retaining wall looks as if it were a platform for this house. Although the site is not large, we believe we have succeeded in creating a house that is in harmony with the surrounding environment and gives the impression of a large scale.