Two houses, separating two generations within one volume.

The site is in Kanagawa, a province near Tokyo. The brief required two houses, separating two generations: a four member family and the grandparents as well as three parking spaces.

The 7.00m high ground floor level accommodates a one bedroom apartment for the grandparents and the public areas of the family house. The private areas are on the 4.5m high second level with a play area located on the roof level.

The hot humid Summer months combined with the warm winter ones, called for natural ventilation. Small openings were placed lower on the North side of the ground floor and a larger window on the South side. The cool corridor on the north and the warm space on the south create a difference in atmospheric pressure encouraging air circulation.

The ventilated space has a wooden structure making references to under used attic spaces in old Japanese wooden buildings. The residents are introduced in this way to a pleasant new experience of living in an attic-like space.

ARCHITECT: Jun Igarashi Architects, Hokkaido, Japan, jun-igarashi.web.infoseek.co.jp. LOCATION: Honjyuku-cho, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan . AREA: 161.78 sqm. DATE: 2009.
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