Shuri Sakura Home
SHURI SAKURA HOME
Clair Archi Lab
ARCHITECTS
Clair Archi Lab
STATUS
Built
AREA
1000 Sqft - 3000 Sqft
YEAR
2012
LOCATION
Naha, Japan
CATEGORY
Landscape + Planning › Private Garden, Residential › Private House
Shuri is located in Naka-city, Okinawa. Once it was the imperial capital of Ryukyu Kingdom.
Many typhoons have passed above the house. Inside the house, joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure of the family has been repeated.
The house gets old as well as the family members. It is time to restart…
Various ages and uses of buildings are mixed together in the surrounding area, which includes old houses like the client’s house and mid-to-high rise apartments which was built after old houses had been torn down.
The client decides to rebuild a house, hoping to have those good old days again at this dear site…
The client’s land is located at Shuri in Naha-City where various types of buildings are mixed together.
In the surrounding area, apartments and houses are rebuilt due to the deterioration of houses built in the war-torn land.
On the other hand, old buildings still exist. The client requested to build a new house in the site where two old houses had been built.
In addition, he requested the calm and peaceful environment where he will be able to mark a new chapter in his family history at the very site.
In planning, taking the busy frontal road into consideration, the house is positioned at the back of the site with keeping enough space from the road.
The concrete wall molded in cedar planks stands in front of the house, which leads to the entrance.
The Japanese rooms with the family Buddhist altar are positioned next to the entrance hall.
The house is composed of three spaces which are entrance hall/Japanese room space, public space including living, dining and kitchen, and private space such as bed room, bathroom and restroom.
The space for living, dining and kitchen is positioned roughly in the center of the building and site so that the family members easily go around other rooms through the space.
Regarding the exterior planning, we figured out how to utilize the extra spaces of the large site.
We planned the various types of exterior spaces such as “pond”, “ornamental garden”, “garden with tile floor”, “service yard for cloth-drying area” and, “garden with cherry tree planted as symbol of the surrounding area”, and positioned them in the proper places, which lets wind and sunlight inside.
At the same time, the family members would be able to enjoy different types of sceneries at the respective room.
We expect that the client will mark new chapters of his family history at the renewed house and site as the cherry tree grows up.
