ICADA's lightweight kobe beach hut replaces timber structure with polyester straps

tokyo-based studio ICADA introduces a temporary ‘beach hut’ restaurant in kobe city, open only during the summer months for beach goers. designed as a ‘beach house for kids,’ the enclosure opens outward toward the sea beyond a shallow mobile container pool for children. under a limited budget and a short eighteen-day construction period, the team creates a space with an expressive use of exposed timber structure. as is seen with its ‘house in hiroshima’ the wooden panels along the roof are speckled with knot holes, transformed into small skylights to resemble a starry sky.

all images by nobutada omote

in the construction of its beach hut in kobe, ICADA seeks to minimize its use of materials. a very thin and lightweight timber roof is supported by a structure of laminated timber plates reinforced by polyester belts to avoid deformation. this roof structure spans five meters without the use of beams, purlins, or rafters. instead, the team integrates polyester belts as a tensile element — an inexpensive ready-made product used for packing work. the laminated timber plates were sourced from the production process of cross laminated timber. this semi-finished product is much cheaper than CLT, but has many knot-holes, which were celebrated and transformed into small skylights. for waterproofing, the timber panels are covered by translucent corrugated polycarbonate sheets.

with its beach hut in kobe, ICADA reduces the weight of the roof, allowing for vertical loads to be supported by very low columns. slits between the roof panels are exaggerated to reduce material use and cost, and are further expressed as skylights. by minimizing the architectural elements and making full use of inexpensive materials, this lightweight beach hut is realized as a temporary and unconditioned restaurant. the team recognizes that contemporary architecture is becoming lighter, thinner, and more transparent. ICADA designs its kobe beach hut as an experiment to introduce to it an economical lightness.

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project info:

project title: beach hut

architecture: ICADA

location: kobe, hyogo, japan

principal architects: masaaki iwamoto, nariaki chigusa

structural engineer: mika araki

furniture: make ends meet

graphic design: utaro miyake

contractor: kurotsuchi kensetsu

client: linkworks

photography: nobutada omote