Sloping House Project

Participated in Holcim Award 2008

[design concept]
In this project, we plan the house along the slope to adapt it to landform. The forest will be natural high retaining walls, to secure natural lighting, drafts and great views to it. Adding to the conventional passive solar system as house generating by solar panels, air circulation system to use the upper room of staircase and pit underneath the ground floor, we store storm water and creek water at the pool on the ground floor and circulate for additional air conditioning. It would be Hybrid Passive Architecture. Wastewater is to recycle through an exclusive septic tank, garbage to use gardening by compost and roof can be doubly used for stairway to the bedroom also as a roof garden. This is the attempt to create ‘Sato-Yama’ (forested location with domestic copse) LOHAS.
You cannot see whole picture of the sloping house from parking space at top except narrow staircase. When you will step down toward natural light, there will be a wide space with half indoor pool to promise you a private resort. Long way down to the ground floor provides changing scenes to appreciate. At exterior, big louver screens, wide stairway and ZEN garden at the roof and the sound of rippling water may fascinate you.

[credits]
architect: Ken Hashimoto/EPS
co-designer: Miki Takayama
engineer: Nobuo Sato/M・E・C & Shuichi Segawa/Sega Planning

[data]
location: undefined, Japan
submission: February 2008
building use: dwelling
structure: reinforced concrete construction
site area: 223.60㎡
building area: 111.32㎡
net floor area: 116.20㎡
building coverage:49.7%
ratio of building volume to lot: 51.9%
number of stories: 2