Wrap House

The client of this project, working in an advertising agency as a graphic designer, acquired a piece of land on a hilltop with a good view – then requested the design of a residence with airiness and openness. The exposed-concrete wall is finished through a cedar-panel pattern, while the galvanized steel surface panels of the building create a clear yet tranquil contrast, producing an orderly exterior appearance of the building. It is not possible to grasp the interior condition from the outside, except for the part revealing the wooden structure thanks to a large opening.

  Within the wooden gate door is the entrance court, enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall, greeting the owner with its indirect illumination at night. The soft diffused light coming down from the grating illuminates the court space next to the bathroom located at the inner part of the building. All the spaces on the ground floor, including private rooms and bathrooms, face the inner courtyard. The front facade is accentuated by a piece of Stewartia monadelpha tree planted in the outer courtyard of the children’s room, standing as a symbolic tree of the residence.

By going up the staircase, the structural body that unifies the walls and the ceiling of the second floor is gradually revealed. Repetitive triangular structures composed of SPF timber and laminated veneer lumber rise up from the floor to continuously form a column-free, shell-like space that integrates the wall, the ceiling and the eaves of three-stepped couplings. The opening on the second floor consists of four large wooden sliding doors, achieving a highly open space, completed by the transparent banister with tempered glass for the balcony.

Wrap House, Matsuyama, Japan
Program: single family house
Architect: Apollo Architects & Associates – Satoshi Kurosaki
Structural Engineer: Low fat structure inc. (Taro Yokoyama)
Mechanical Engineer: Naoki Matsumoto
Lighting design: Sirius Lighting Office
Area: 113 sqm
Completion: 2016