HAKONE

Weekend House Hakone is a small wooden house in a holiday village for Tokyoites. Playing with the simple saddleback-roof structure created an open interior space with a variety of light qualities, volumes and views. In contrast to the exterior, this is characterized as a compact and tranquil object in a forest, inside one can fully enjoy the dynamism and interaction between the inner space and the surroundings.

The house is situated in a mountainous holiday village approximately 120 km southwest of Tokyo. Despite being in a woody area, the density of housing in the village is rather high (300 m2 per lot on average) and it is difficult to create the feeling of a house in nature. Moreover, the lot faces the street to the south and the mountainous forest to the north. It is therefore not possible to make a large opening to the south. The question that faced us was, based on the specific conditions of the surroundings and the orientation, how we can make a house with ample natural light and the feeling of a house in forest.

The external impression is dark and the house looks like an isolated object fading into the forest.  The west and east façades are made of western red cedar colored with charcoal, while the north and south façades are covered with galvanized steel which extends the roof. In contrast, the interior very light and has been designed to capture all the available natural light. The walls are white stucco and the floor is cedar colored in light grey.