This project is for a villa site in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture.
The client couple, who have a home in Kanagawa Prefecture, purchased a villa site near the top of a small mountain in Futtsu City, which offers a magnificent view of the sea and mountains, due to the ease of access and the diversification of work styles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The site is long and narrow from east to west, and offers views of the sea in both the west and south, and vast mountains spread out below to the southeast, providing an overwhelming sense of grandeur that cannot be experienced in the city center.
On the other hand, the conditions of the site for the construction were that due to cliff ordinances on the slope that descends far into the southeast, there were limited places on the site where construction could be done without taking special measures against the angle of repose from the bottom of the cliff, and the unique building rules of the villa site limited the height of the building to 6m.
The building is composed of spaces of different heights in a skip-floor style, and within the rule of an absolute height of 6m, we thought about how to provide a clear contrast between the view that the client wanted to enjoy (floor height) and the spacious interior space (ceiling height) for each space.
In the living room, which is on the top floor level, the ceiling height is reduced to 2m to ensure floor height, with the intention of viewing Tokyo Bay from a higher perspective over the roofs of neighboring houses to the west, and on the same level, a bathroom is also installed that opens to the mountain scenery to the east.
One level lower than the living room, the dining room and kitchen are located, with ceilings that are just as high as the difference in height. By providing a large opening that blends into the mountain scenery to the east and a semi-outdoor space under the eaves that connects to it, you can enjoy the overwhelming scale of the scenery and an extraordinary sense of freedom.
In contrast to the open second floor, the first floor, surrounded by neighboring residences and lush trees, has a high-ceiling zone created by the split floor, and the entrance hall, master bedroom, and study are located in the other areas, as well as the garage and guest room, and the presence and light of the floors above fall through the gaps in the ceiling.
Beyond the windows of the master bedroom and guest room, an 8m square deck with the same area as the building area is set up in the margin of the site created to avoid cliff ordinances, protruding into the trees, creating an outdoor space with a sense of closure. It can be used for various purposes, such as a dog run, barbecue, and barrel sauna storage.
The building is a cube shaped with 8m sides and 6m height, and there are no eaves in consideration of the strong winds that blow up at the top of the mountain. Pilotis and two "semi-outdoor" verandas with different characteristics on the east and west are placed inside the simple box shape, and the difference in ceiling and floor heights due to the skip floor, the way the light falls, the way the windows are opened to allow visibility, and the way the outside and inside are connected are controlled to create a simple yet diverse and rich space.
Cedar boards that have been dyed gray in advance for the exterior walls are used in anticipation of fading over time. Inside, the outer surface that echoes the exterior walls is finished with the same material to give a sense of the building's outline, while the space as a whole is unified by using multiple different materials in gray, and the lowered brightness tones make the space stand out with the furniture, greenery, and sky from the windows.
Rather than the building being the main focus, we aimed for a building that stands dignified and stands close to the overwhelming scenery of the villa area.
