This household residence in Shiga, Japan, is made up of two structures – a basic two-storey block set on a patio, and a little timber pavilion that opens out to a landscaped garden (+ slideshow).
Designed by nearby studio Alts Design Workplace, Maibara Residence was developed to offer you its residents some spaces that are entirely private, and some that enable them to chat to their neighbours.
The biggest section of the 124-square-metre developing is positioned on the northern side of the site. Coated externally with a textured white render, it presents a blank windowless wall to the street.
To the south, a corridor connects this block to the small pavilion-like structure, which functions as a communal living room. As opposed to its neighbour, its facade can be fully opened up, making it possible for passersby to see any routines taking spot within.
“The consumer hoped for an open area, but also necessary privacy,” explained architects Sumiou Mizumoto and Yoshitaka Kuga, whose earlier tasks incorporate a property with a secluded backyard passage and an apartment exactly where storage takes the location of walls.
“The first a single is a privacy-minded home, that gives excess weight to the wellbeing of the family members” they mentioned. “The 2nd one has public aspects, just like a park exactly where anyone can pop in.”
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The contrast between the blocks is emphasised by a wooden fence that divides the web site into two plots. A landscaped garden featuring grassy mounds and a snaking pathway gives the setting for the open living room, although the other side is paved to develop a driveway.
“Every building is completely diverse by nature, but they connect to each and every other gently,” said the architects.
“We didn’t place two diverse hopes in one space due to the fact it could effectively vanish every single one’s nature,” they added. “But we separated off two spaces daringly and took benefit of every to make attractive spaces.”
Both blocks have mono-pitched roofs, but these slope in different directions.
Nearly all of the windows from the two-storey block encounter in direction of the garden, while the living room has a glazed facade that slides open, as well as rear windows that run along the prime and bottom of the wall.
The house’s primary entrance is found on the north side of the building. Inside, a kitchen and dining room is on the left, and a master bedroom and bathroom are on the right.
A pointed doorway marks the threshold of the residing space, and a wooden staircase leads up to the children’s space and guest bedroom on the floor above.
Mizumoto and Kuga founded their Shiga-primarily based studio in 2012. Other completed projects by the pair incorporate a residence with residence-shaped doorways and a black house with a timber-lined balcony.
Photography is by Yuta Yamada.
Ground floor plan – click for larger image 
First floor program – click for larger image 
Segment – click for more substantial image 
