Setagaya's house

Main use: Housing

Location: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Site area: 93.32m2

Total floor area: 91.30m2

Structure: Wooden

Structural design: OUVI inc.

Construction: Naruyuki Construction Co., Ltd.

Design period: October 2009-March 2010

Construction period: April 2010-December 2010

Photo: Hideya Amemiya

The site is located in a quiet residential area, and there are large green spaces scattered around the area. There was also a small wooded area on the south side of the site that remained as part of the green space, which was annoying but somewhat attractive. However, it was decided that the place where the wooded area was located would be converted into a residential land from the beginning of the design, and the construction of a neighboring house was planned. However, there was a sense of discomfort in designing the woods in front of me, ignoring the environment in which they remained. From such a background, the beginning of this plan was to consider replanting a wooded area in the site. It was also an image that the memory of the past is infused into this building in this area where development will progress and similar houses will be lined up in the future.

The site shape is a long and narrow site from east to west with a frontage of 6.5m and a depth of 14m. First, the building was set back from the boundary of the site to Naname, creating a space for one parking lot and a space for a garden with a different depth. Next, I planned a large and deep eaves with different depths in this place. By extending the eaves as low as possible, the garden and the room will be continuous and have a feeling of inclusion. In the trapezoidal plan cut out by the outside, each room was arranged in a row while facing south. The composition is entrance-kitchen-dining-living room, 2nd floor, children's room-water area-closet-bedroom, a flow line plan that traces the flow of daily life from returning home to going out with a single stroke. It has become. The interior space on the 1st floor expands from the entrance to the back, and the opening increases in proportion to the garden. The eaves that hang down to the height of the line of sight fall at different angles from the room, making you aware of the distance between the garden and the neighboring land. On the 2nd floor, the wall with an angle toward the sky in conjunction with the eaves functions as a top light. The exposed wooden beams on the 1st floor and the frame shape of the corridor on the 2nd floor are for making people aware of the direction of such a space. In other words, in the north-south direction, a space that is short but feels depth is created by providing a mechanism that is conscious of the outside, and in the east-west direction, the space for each purpose is continuous to create a space like a studio. Many irregular parts created by the trapezoidal plan and the eaves with different depths are vaguely processed so as to leave a gap. As a margin in the design, they give the space a feeling of space and further depth.

Now that the building has been completed, the large opening of the hanging eaves continues to shine the sun into the room even after the environment of the neighboring land has changed. The trees in the garden will grow and become entwined with the eaves and will become more integrated with the building in the future. Moss will grow at your feet, and it will produce the shadows that fall in the garden. That thicket has been cut down without a trace, and houses are lined up in that place, but this house should be ticking "again" regardless of the surrounding environment.

When we first visited our site, there was a grove on the lot beside it. When we started to construct our project these trees were already removed from the mentioned lot. On our first design of this project, we decided to remove the grove in the neighboring site completely. In this way, we tried to incorporate the original landscape of the city on our site.

First, we made a space that is covered by low and deep eaves. We wanted our to have an adequate distance from the neighboring site to get enough sunlight on the ground floor of the house. So, we planned to set the building diagonally instead of The remaining gaps, not covered by trees and plants, created an illusion that the lot is distance and allowed the sunlight to enter the different areas of the house.  

Second, the rooms were arranged in certain order putting into consideration how they are going to be used in daily life. The passage of the entrance, kitchen and dining room, living room and kids room, bathroom, bedroom were placed in parallel with each other so that from one perspective these rooms appear to be only one.  

That grove is now completely removed and new residences have stood beside our site. We already accomplished our design for the house but until the trees and plants grow and surpass the eaves that's the only time when we can say that we have fully incorporated the original landscape and environment of the city. Time can only tell when our design will be fully realized naturally.