House in Mibu is a two-story timber house for a couple and their three children, designed by Tato Architects in the backyard of the family’s parental home in Mibu, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The living floor is sunk about 500 millimeters into the ground, while its planted roof extends the garden over the house.
A large, weathered barn in the backyard is used for parking and as a workspace and is being repaired and retained. To keep the garden open, Tato Architects rotated the house at an angle following the path of cars that continue to pass through the site. This creates sheltered areas where the roof reaches toward the barn and gaps where it pulls away.
all images ©DAICI ANO
Tato connects the living room and garden through Split levels
The half-sunken living room is enclosed by earth and a low wooden roof while opening broadly toward the garden. From the lowered floor, the garden appears almost at eye level beyond the glass. The second floor forms a more enclosed counterpart, with small, nest-like rooms connected by two staircases and a raised loft that functions as both a desk and sleeping area.
The change in levels also creates visual connections between family members in the garden and those inside the living room. This extends Kobe-based studio Tato Architects’ use of split-level relationships from the interior to the relationship between the house and its surroundings.
the grass roof is nurtured by automatic irrigation using water from the existing well
- Charred cedar and a grass roof connect house and landscape
The roof acts as an ‘in-between’ element, drawing on Aldo van Eyck’s idea of a space where enclosure and openness coexist. From inside, it reads as a ceiling; from the garden, it becomes an extension of the ground, covered with grass and watered automatically from the site’s existing well.
The house is clad in charred cedar, or yakisugi, beneath a corrugated galvanized steel roof. Inside, lauan plywood is combined with troweled mortar floors. By sinking the living space and extending the garden across the roof, the design integrates the new house with the existing backyard and barn.
a grass-covered lower roof spans over the living room sunken into the ground the entrance is set beneath the pilotisview from the dining area toward the stairs and living area
the dining area sits 660mm below the entrance hall view from the living room toward the dining area and kitchen, with the washbasin beyondlauan plywood is combined with troweled mortar floors
the second floor is composed of small individual rooms connected by two staircases the loft ahead is raised 690mm above the second floor, providing access to bedrooms the window seat gently connects the garden, inside and outside view from the washbasin toward the dressing room, gently partitioned by a curtainthe external walls are clad in charred cedar (yakisugi)
project info:
name: House in Mibu
architects: Tato Architects – Yo Shimada | @yo_shimada
design team: Yo Shimada, Nobuhiko Sato, Yohei Uchino
structural engineer: tmsd Takashi Manda
structural design team: Takashi Manda, Moeka Magari, Hideki Oda
location: Mibu, Japan
photographer: DAICI ANO
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edited by: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom
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