House of Brightness / Nakajima Koyo

House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Interior Photography, HandrailHouse of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Interior Photography, Stairs, Windows, Beam, HandrailHouse of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Exterior Photography, WoodHouse of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Exterior PhotographyHouse of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - More Images+ 18

  • Architects: Nakajima Koyo
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  197
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2018
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Tetsuya Tsurumi
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Lixil Group, Sanwa, Siphon, Takiron, luci
  • Lead Architects: Nakajima Koyo (belong to NIKKEN SEKKEI) 
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House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Exterior Photography
© Tetsuya Tsurumi

Text description provided by the architects. This house renovation project aims to transform the unused residence that my grandfather used to live in to a mixed-use building of office, shop and residence. The office is for my father’s tax accountant office. The shop is for my sister’s nail salon. While it is necessary to separate these three functions in terms of space and circulation, it was difficult to make them completely independent with adequate space and individual entrances in this small house. To solve this situation, a new structure is added to the front part of the existing building by removing the old facade in order to set up a new entrance hall that leads to three functions.

House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Exterior Photography
© Tetsuya Tsurumi
House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Image 18 of 23
Ground Floor Plan
House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Interior Photography, Table, Windows, Beam, Chair
© Tetsuya Tsurumi

The new entrance space has a void which is largely open with a semi-transparent outer wall and therefore filled with soft and natural light. This brightness would bring about indirect accordance among three functions, providing the whole architecture with rich spatial experiences. The reason why I have focused upon this “brightness” is due to the local somewhat dull climate. This site is predominantly cloudy, often rainy and thus sunshine is rather scarce. Like the “Tateyama” mountains renowned in this area, with their silhouette melting into the sky, soft light is encapsulated into the architecture without worrying about the weather.

House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Interior Photography, Handrail
© Tetsuya Tsurumi

The ceiling has been tilted to work like a reflector in diffusing light. There are transparent fixed acrylic plates that divides the thermal environment of the first and second floor, allowing light to come through. A multi-layered poly-carbonate outer plate has a SUS flat bar in its joint. It can decrease mullion and create abstract existence of the wall. An old window sill situated on the second floor works as a handrail. Here is a creation of an ambiguous additional space, in what was otherwise the exterior of the building. The facade of this structure appears as a phenomenon rather than substance. At night, its semi-transparent facade emerges in the town-scape, akin to a lantern that is seen during the annual festivals in this region.

House of Brightness  / Nakajima Koyo - Exterior Photography
© Tetsuya Tsurumi

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Project location

Address:Uozu, Toyama Prefecture, Japan

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "House of Brightness / Nakajima Koyo" 26 May 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/940300/house-of-brightness-nakajima-koyo> ISSN 0719-8884

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