life style koubou completes a windowless concrete house with sunny courtyard interiors

amidst the urban context of japan’s fukushima city, life style koubou completes ‘ring’ — a house designed as a spacious, open-air fortress. facing a major road and surrounded by high-rises, the windowless residence is closed off from the exterior and exhibits a strong presence within its context. while this impenetrable, concrete enclosure ensures the privacy of the occupant, the interior is flooded with overhead sunlight. life style koubou managed this duality by designing the structure fundamentally as a stack of stepped volumes. 

all images © nao takahashi

life style koubou introduces the house as a strong, assertive presence which simultaneously harmonizes with the language of the neighborhood. the rhythmic paneling expressed along the facade enhances the horizontality of the house. a low wall encloses the site and mimics the concrete bands which comprise the structure. the material expression of the interior offers a contrasting element of warmth and life as wood paneling clads the floors and walls. pleated wooden ceilings visually enhance the span of the open plans and result in an exaggerated perspective. 

natural ventilation and sunlight pass through the interstitial overhead gaps. the resulting space comprises a series of conditioned courtyards, encouraging the growth of large plants and allowing the occupants to maximize time spent outdoors without entering onto the street. life style koubou comments: ‘we believe that we were able to suggest a new form of housing in the din of a large city, a house with a sense of space and freedom brought by light, wind and greens so unlikely of the closed appearance.‘

project info:

architects
: life style koubou

location: fukushima city, fukushima


project manager: kotaro anzai


engineer: kenji nawa / nawakenji-m

total floor area: 379.46m2

project year: 2018