no.555 completes japanese home and café inside twin gabled structures

no.555 completes japanese home and café inside twin gabled structures
all images by koyama shunichi

in the japanese countryside on the outskirts of tsukuba city, no.555 architectural design office have designed a home which is adjoined to a family-owned café. based close to the foot of mount tsukuba, the unusually large piece of land in rural japan is a site of afforestation which was grown by the client’s father. the construction of the two generously-sized volumes draws influence from local agricultural buildings: ‘I received some inspiration from the vinyl houses for agriculture found in the area; in order to keep the volume of the building small, the building adapted naturally to the environment as if it has been there from the beginning’, explains architect tsuchida takuya of no.555.

a house, also used as a shop, has been developed for a couple running a café at the foot of mt. tsukuba

characterized by their pitched, gabled roofs, the home is clad in pale timber while the café presents a much darker shade. within the café, the timber columns have been randomly distributed to metaphorically represent the previous forest footprint. furthermore, shed-like spaces have been erected, as well as a second mezzanine level to produce a mixture of seating arrangements.

the façade of the countryside café

the architect took influence of the building’s form from local agricultural architecture

inside the café, different seating arrangements have been installed

small spaces have been formed over two levels

randomly distributed columns inside of the café metaphorically represent the trace of the previous nursery of trees

the café during the evening

openings inside, reveal different viewpoints of the house and café

the bedroom upstairs sits underneath the A-line roof

the kitchen inside the home

the project is located in a rural area of japan

a corrugated passageway sits between and connects the two programs

project info:

location: tsukuba city, ibaraki , japan
architect: no.555- tsuchida takuya
structural design: frameworks – akimoto megumi
photographer: koyama shunichi
purpose: single family house + café
site area: 480.65 sqm
floor area: 225.57 sqm