It was built on a long and narrow space in a idyllic suburb area .
The request by the client was to be able to have a quiet life considering the retirement of a bit distant future.
So, I planned a single-story house as a first idea for them to live only on the first floor when this husband and wife is aged.
I took into account the surrounding environment that they are mostly agricultural, the outside wall of the house is made of 100% natural material which is volcanic ash.
As for the floor plan, it was designed so that all the rooms will have sunlight and ventilation efficiently utilizing effectively the long and narrow space that stretches from East to West.
Inside there is "doma", which has a space established in the Japanese traditional houses ahd has meaning of "between outside and inside", and its large retractable opening makes more compatible with the yard.
In addtion, by surrouding with balcony like inner court and "Noh theater", we can get to feel change of season directly.
We designed the traditional life style of Japan that is closely related with nature by the contemporary materials.
Volcanic ash walls and extensive use of wood let the building blend into the surrounding nature.
For keep comfortable,we designed the large eave on the roof intercepts direct sunlight.In addition,deciduous trees play a role by adjusting sunlight in both summer and winter.
Also,the volcanic ash used on the exterior wall helps to suppress hight temperatures inside and outside the building by sprinkle it with water in summer.
It's the first time we've used it and we found that the unique texture of volcanic ash helps make the appearance of the building really appealing.The ash came from Sakurajima in Kagoshima.
Among kokubu's signature features are a wood lattice with a unique design,made up of sections of wood of varying length.To have an appropriate distance with the surrounding environment, we decided lattice work where pitch and size are changed.