Kamakura House
- KAMAKURA, JAPAN • HOUSES, RENOVATION
- ROOVICE are the architects.
- Area: 143 m²
Year: 2022
Akira Nakamura’s photographs
Miele, COAT, Kohler, LIXIL, NEW LIGHT POTTERY, Nagoya Mosaic, Panasonic, Ragno, Rinnai, Runafaser, Sanei, Sangetsu, Sanwa, TOSHIBA, Tile Park are some of the manufacturers.
The architects produced the text description. This private residence was built in 1991 and is located in machi, a neighborhood of the ancient city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture. The structure is built on a mountainside surrounded by nature, resulting in stunning views in every direction. Previously, the kitchen, living room, and Japanese-style rooms were all segregated in their own enclosed area. This fragmentation harmed the surface’s efficiency and complicated internal circulation.
As a result, the reconstruction began on the first floor with the removal of the separating wall between the living and tatami rooms. This resulted in a large kitchen and living room that spans the whole north-south axis of the plan. For the former, an island near the south end of the plan has been erected, changing the old kitchen into a hobby confectionary. Smoothing the corner in front of the counter with a rounded plasterboard increased the movement within.
The new counter is covered with the standard 10x10cm white tile from the Japanese modern era, lending a nostalgic touch to the newly renovated room. The island was designed to serve as a secondary eating area for the owners, but it quickly became the focal point of the family’s life. The big openings along the western wall allow lots of natural light inside the design thanks to the revised arrangement. This enabled the south end’s two windows to be walled in favor of a kitchen shelf.
Given the large size of the property and the limited budget, the renovation prioritized those places that were most needed, attempting to merge old and modern harmoniously. To do this, the age of the house must be seen, so the living room ceiling has been demolished in favor of the exposed wooden framework. To complement the texture and tone of the timber, large-sized tiles were chosen for the pavement: these have a distinctive reflective surface comparable to water, working in harmony with the surroundings.
The renovation brought the most significant alterations to the former first-floor Japanese-style room: aside from its materiality, which has been homogenized to the rest of the living, the storage became part of the space, greatly expanding the mood. The original storage was converted into a bookshelf for the sunroom ( Uchien) in the inner engawa. When closed behind the original Yukimi Shoji (, lit. translated as “snow-watching shoji”), it is now used as a creative space in the house.
The upper-level renovation took a different strategy, as the limited budget combined with the existing well-preserved conditions needed only minor adjustments. The toilet was given a wooden floor similar to the ones in the hallway and other bedrooms. The floor in the south-west corner was also redone, although the owners did it themselves with a woven texture. Finally, the sliding doors of the Japanese-style bedroom were changed with a darker tone to match the rest of the materials.
