The thin rectilinear volume of Keiichi Sugiyama, architect of Kobe, measures five by 17 meters and is covered by a combination of cedar wood and muted brown brown.
An old masonry retaining wall was removed from the site to improve views of the city and a nearby reservoir. Instead the architect designed a filtered terrace. Open at each end, it gives visits to residences in the surrounding neighborhood.
The upper branches of a small tree protrude from the deck, which runs alongside an open space of two levels.
"After demolishing the old wall, I built a new short retaining wall with a warm-looking wooden screen along the border and scraping the floor," explained the architect. "I floated the deck using cedar scaffolding boards at the same level as the ground floor."
Two bedrooms are joined to the living room at ground level, while the master suite and a study are set on the first floor. A garage is minted under living space at the lowest point of the site.
Wooden floors and beams are exposed throughout the interior, which acquires an aesthetic similar to an architect's house designed in suburban Kube.
The master bedroom and study sit on either side of an atrium overlooking the two-level living room and are connected by a long hallway.
This hallway is illuminated by floor level windows and a narrow rectangular skylight that protects the area from being overlooked by neighbors.
Wood blinds can be drawn through the openings in the walls of the room and the study to provide a degree of privacy of common spaces on the ground floor.
"By taking full advantage of the slim site, several scenes of a long line are comforted by light and shadow, low and high, wide and narrow, opening and closing," said the architect.
The photograph is by Yoshiharu Matsumura.
Diagram - click for large image
Site plan - click for larger image
Basement Plan - click for larger image
Ground floor - click to enlarge
First floor plan - click for larger image
Section - click to enlarge
