Here we introduce a design plan for a two-family residence in Yamagata prefecture.
The house is composed of a one-story house for the elder family members, a two-story house for younger family members, and a Japanese-style room with a terrace between these houses. The roofs smoothly connect, although the heights of the two houses are not equal.
Considering the effects of snow cornice and snow damages, we connected the roof and walls seamlessly with galvalume steel sheets, and the walls which expose birch plywoods in each room support the heavy weight of snow.
Although this house is part of the so-called independent style, two-family residence in which a set area is installed in each house, and a Japanese-style room is placed in between. In this case however, the Japanese-style room is separated in two for each of the families, and it can also be connected for annual ceremonies.