Airhouse

This renovation project is located in Nekogahora Dori, Chikusa-ku in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Two existing “machiya” (traditional Japanese wooden tradesmen’s houses) that were adjacently built 40 years ago are connected and converted into a single structure containing a residence and a shop. In response to the client’s request to design a large dining / kitchen space to host social gatherings, we have designed the entire entrance area as the dining / kitchen space. Space for living is located on the second floor to secure privacy while the lower and upper floors are not fully separated but connected by a void space to achieve a spacious loft-like open space. The existing floor-to-ceiling partition walls are basically removed to let in light from both the east and west sides to achieve a bright living space in a Japanese-style house which is supposed to have relatively dark rooms in typical configurations. By stripping the structure to reveal the skeleton, we intend to maximize the spatial efficiency and also added structural reinforcement based on the necessary calculations. Today the number of old buildings in need for renovation is rapidly increasing, and we intend to propose an effective solution to achieve rich space by utilizing, reducing and reinforcing existing structures. (for the shop design, please see description of “machimachi”.)