Kamakura Terabun House

Family distance and diverse places to stay
As people spend more and more time at home these days, the places in the house are also required to change. The planning of this house was carried out in the midst of just such a change.

The site is located on the edge of a green hill, with a good view and a large cherry blossom tree on the neighbouring land as a borrowed landscape. The owner has a good relationship with the neighbourhood and the house has an airy feel with a gentle connection between inside and outside. The garden is a private space that can be used as an extension of the dining room without worrying about being seen and an open space where friends can easily drop by from the garden.

In order to achieve these contradictory conditions, we decided to make use of the shape of the land. There is a 1 m difference in height between the front road and the site, and by lowering the height of the building on the road side, the volume is not overbearing from the road and blends in with the townscape, while at the same time blocking the view into the interior of the site.

The building is arranged with a single-storey building on the west side facing the road and a two-storey building on the north side facing the neighbouring house, with openings of various sizes and shapes and different heights, through which the two buildings can be seen over the garden. The plan was designed to create a change in visual distance from the garden and a difference in physical comfort by creating steps on the floors of the master bedroom and living room.

The terrace is intended as a space where friends can wander through the garden and enjoy a moment on the porch. The house has many places to stay, including built-in benches and sofa corners scattered throughout the house, so that each person can choose a comfortable place according to the climate and time of day, and enjoy the changing seasons in their daily life.

The plan allows the garden to be viewed from anywhere in the house, but when the shoji screens are closed, the space becomes tranquil and serene. The house is designed in such a way that each family member can freely utilise the many places scattered throughout the house, whether enjoying time alone at a distance, or sitting around the dining table with many others, while still feeling the presence of the family.