van der architects' oranda jima house functions as after school facility

van der architects’ oranda jima house functions as after school facility
all images courtesy of van der architects

yamada-machi is a town located on the central coastline of japan’s iwate prefecture. its economy is based mainly on the fishery industry, with an emphasis on aquafarming seafood such as scallops, oysters, sea urchin and abalone. there are also several small- and medium-sized factories in the mountainous regions. the total population of the town in 2010 was 18,625 people and amounted to 17,235 people in december 1, 2012. after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the town on march 11, 2011, several major companies were urged to help by a longtime friend of yamada-machi in the hague, the netherlands. these corporations were both dutch and international, including the PA international foundation, DSM, rabobank, the netherlands chamber of commerce in japan, and stichting ‘t trekpaert. as a result, this business group decided to offer the town ‘oranda jima house’, an after-school community center by van der architects where local residents would have a place to play, heal, and come together.

the program asked for a 200m² flexible building to accommodate about 60 children from three o’clock in the afternoon until early evening when their parents pick them up. before this time and on the weekends, it can be used as a hall for civic events and occasions. the building follows these requirements in a linear way. however, instead of designing a long rectangular form, the architects decided to twist the shape into itself, thus creating a space that feels safe and enclosing with shorter circulation routes. ‘from the onset of the project we wanted to build a building where we would use local labour. we decide on a local contractor, a so-called ‘daiku’, or japanese carpenter. all the people who worked on the site are from yamada machi. we decided on using wood as from a design point of view it expresses well the image that I wanted to create with the building: a simple, silent structure, designed from the inside out,’ said martin van der linden, principal and founder of the firm.

exterior, finishes in western red cedar, italian stucco, and polycarbonate

the massing is positioned in such a way that daylight during the winter months will fall deep into the interior, while during the summer months shade will be provided by an overhang. with this understanding, the intent is that as students are to use the space for their activities until six in the evening, the sun will provide changing lighting conditions. on the west side, a wooden corner bench is situated below a matte-white polycarbonate window. behind this opening are trees, and the orange light of dusk will cast beautiful shadows on this translucent panel, not unlike patterns seen in japanese rice paper screens. in addition, the angle of the building creates an interior view from the main hall towards the toilet corridor. by attaching a reflective sheet on the glass, this corridor becomes a screen which reflects both the outside as well as the movement behind the screen, creating constantly changing views. these features a justified by the designers in saying, ‘studies show that architecture can have a positive impact on the wellbeing of children. we think that lighting, natural day light, will create a space that feels welcoming and warm. we have done detailed studies to create an architecture that maximizes the power of day-lighting by designing a space where during winter the sun will heat up the space, while in the summer the space will be relatively cool as the main rooms will be in shadow.’

view of the multipurpose room

entrance with interior garden in the background with a dutch elm tree

bench under the west-facing polycarbonate wall

polycarbonate wall along the corridor towards the toilets and library 

exterior view of the polycarbonate wall 

toplight in the japanese-style room

project rendering

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