Japanese studio Sandwich utilized 3 truckloads of timber to generate the sculptural facade of this Tokyo house that also boasts a two-storey-high library and an indoor swing (+ slideshow).
Sandwich architects Yuichi Kodai and Lee Yoshitaka designed Kyodo Home to be as sustainable as achievable, the two in its layout and in the supplies selected to build it.
For the facade, they selected wooden offcuts. Drawing inspiration from the function of artist Kohei Nawa, with whom they share a studio, the architects chose to correct wooden lengths to the walls at an angle, generating a textured surface of varying tones and widths.
Kodai describes the consequence as “warm and rustic, but still modern”. “The variety, size, thickness and age of the timber employed on the facade is at random,” he told Dezeen.
“The most challenging parts were dividing the timbers according to the assembly rules, and physically constructing the facade while maintaining the continuity of the diagonal lines around the corner of volumes.”
The architect hopes the task will motivate other architects to specify timber offcuts, which he believes will support help Japan’s flagging timber business.
Relevant story: Nikolay Polissky’s SELPO pavilion is covered in 1000’s of wood offcuts
“The Japanese timber sector is weakening due to the low cost provide of timber from abroad and there are numerous lumber mills that carry unsold timber stocks,” he explained.
“These leftover timbers are extremely difficult to make rewarding, as any kind of added production process – this kind of as making them into wood chip – costs much more than the sale value.”
Other architects have taken comparable approaches to waste wood, with examples such as a cafe in Australia and a pavilion in Russia.
The house’s volume is created up of numerous “overlapping boxes”, including 1 that juts out at an angle and one particular that stretches up to form a tower. These boxes dictate the internal layout of rooms.
The greatest area in the property is an open-strategy living area, including a dining table and kitchen. It occupies the vast majority of the ground floor, alongside bathrooms and storage locations.
The residing room has a double-height area at its centre, exactly where Sandwich has installed a huge library wall and a central staircase. There is also a narrow ceiling void, where a swing for the youngsters hangs down.
3 bedrooms are found on the level above, although the 3-storey-high tower is made up of a research space and a tea room.
“The most efficient way to harvest solar power is to place residing spaces in the direction of the south, and utility rooms to the north,” explained Kodai. “The composition of stacked volumes above the ground floor was the result of a simulated airflow pattern.”
“The teahouse holds the part of making airflow via a chimney result, while the juxtaposition of the other volumes was very carefully adjusted according to views, sceneries and surrounding greeneries,” he added.
A first-floor terrace provide residents an elevated view of the Setagaya neighbourhood, whilst an additional basement room offers a big space suited to a variety of events.
Kodai and Yoshitaka established Sandwich in 2013, and they are one particular of several studios that occupy a former sandwich factory in Kyoto. The typically collaborate with Nawa, whose prior operates include a enormous foam set up.
Task credits:
Architect: Sandwich – Crew Minimal Energy
Structural engineer: Hiroshi Ono
Services engineer: YMO
Lighting design: Plus Y
Contractor: Ohara Building
Ground floor plan – click for more substantial picture 
Very first floor program – click for bigger picture 
Section 1 – click for greater image 
Part two – click for bigger picture 
