House with Winodwsills

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Single Houses

Architects: Tatsuya Nagasaki / Atelier Haretoke

Location: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Year: 2011

A convenient home with varied floor levels

This home for an elderly couple sits on a riverside road lined with cherry blossom trees. By taking advantage of the irregular shape of the flag lot, we were able to create two outdoor spaces: an approach facing the cherry blossom trees and a private garden tucked away from the road.

In addition to facilitating a comfortable, modern lifestyle, we had three design goals. First, to incorporate traditional Japanese architectural elements including a toriniwa, or passageway running from the front to back of the house; an engawa, or narrow covered veranda, and sudare, or reed blinds hung outside. Second, to ensure the house became more comfortable and beautiful to live in as time passed. And third, to link interior living spaces with outdoor areas such as the cherry-tree-lined road and the private garden.

The engawa runs next to the windows, and throughout the house where the floor level rises or falls there are many other places to sit down. People often dislike houses with many such elevation changes, but by incorporating them creatively into the house, we succeeded in creating a comfortable, convenient living environment ideal for the aging couple. In addition, the home is well insulated and was constructed in collaboration with highly skilled local carpenters using quality Japanese wood. It is an ideal home both in terms of livability and environmental sustainability.