TORAFU ARCHITECTS

Located next to a greenery park in the heart of the city, this house is a reinforced concrete structure with one basement floor and a two-story wooden structure above the ground. The plan is to build a new one to suit the new lifestyle after demolishing the existing house on the same scale as the new one. Its flagpole-form site is located below the ground surface level in the southeast of the house. It was required to plan according to the surrounding environment that changes with each height.

The first floor is set at a level slightly higher than the ground level of the park, and the second floor is set at a level where the canopy of the trees can be seen. Even though the house is located next to the passageway in the park, where there are many people, such as runners and families, the plan enables a calming indoor space. The piloti with the entrance on the first basement floor has an RCS spandrels wall with a reversed beam, and the volume of the upper floor is floated with a cantilever, and the wind and light are taken in to create an open space. The first and second floors share the same structure, where we locate the living room on the east side, the kitchen and toilet in the center, and the bedrooms on the west side. The scenery from the windows and the different interior finishes creates an entirely different atmosphere.
On the first floor, the bright ash wood flooring and exposed cedar beams give a bright impression against the background of the reinforced concrete-made spandrels wall that continues from the basement. On the second floor, the floor is covered with tiles, and the walls and ceiling are decorated with dyed lauan wood, providing the space with an overall calm color tone. In the living room, the bay window is supported by a solid steel pillar with a diameter of 65 mm placed in the convex corner, which contributes not to assert the presence of the pillar. You can enjoy the feeling of being in the forest by seeing the trees of the park through the large bay windows as the scenery spreading outside the house. At night, indirect lighting installed at the feet of the bay windows and the fixtures softly illuminate the ceiling and floor, creating a different look from the daytime. The rattan finish used for the handrail’s panels in the staircase and fittings for the built-in furniture adds lightness and quality to the space. The exterior is covered with deep reddish-brown siding and galvalume steel plates that complement the green color of the trees, and the irregularities of the bay windows in the living room and bedroom also appear on the outer wall to give depth.

While carefully understanding the relationship with the surrounding environment, we aimed for a rich living space that responds to the inside and outside.