Architects: Studio Cochi Architects
Area: N/A
Year: 2023
Photography: Ooki Jingu
Lead Architects: Toshiyuki Igarashi, Hiroyuki Inaoka
Structure Engineering: Masayuki Takata
Program / Use / Building Function: Residential
City: Okinawa
Country: Japan
House in Sonda, designed by Studio Cochi Architects, located in central Okinawa amidst a mix of commercial and residential buildings, with fields, parks, and a greenbelt to the east. Completed in 2023, the design incorporates a central garden to facilitate various activities and integrates the family members’ living spaces around this garden. The house opens to the large green space to the east, creating a connection with the surrounding environment.
This house is for a couple and their four children. The site is located in central Okinawa, an area with a high concentration of commercial and residential buildings, but there are still fields and parks around the site, and a large greenbelt extends to the east. The topography around the site is undulating, and it is surrounded by high land to the north, east, and south.
The client, who loves architecture and particularly admires Tsutomu Abe’s own house, requested a similar design tailored to their needs, considering the building, layout, and relationship with the surrounding environment.
All family members participated in the meetings, sharing their opinions. The idea emerged to create a garden at the center of the house for various activities without a specific-purpose room, with family members’ living spaces arranged around the garden.
Being surrounded by high land on three sides is advantageous, as it protects the building from storms like typhoons, with the high land acting as a natural wall.
The house opens to the large green space on the east side. The interior is a one-room space with almost no partitions, where the various family members’ living spaces are visible and hidden in succession. Each space opens into the central garden, which in turn opens into the large green space.
To avoid monotony, the ceiling height and floor level vary according to each living space’s character, with windows of various sizes allowing the eye to pass through in multiple directions. This open living space with a central garden is envisioned to grow into the owner’s ideal residence in an enclosed residential area.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Sonda, Okinawa Perfecture 904-0022, Japan
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
