The courtyard house was completed in 2015 and was designed by FORM | Kouichi Kimura Architects. It features 3,272 square feet of space and is located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, on a picturesque site flanked by fields and farms. The house in question had to blend nicely with its surroundings while ensuring spacious and comfortable living conditions. The architects decided that it would be best to go with a U-shaped design that comprises a private courtyard.
The interior includes a single open room that boasts various height levels and different finishes that help distinguish individual spaces. There’s a very large window facing the courtyard as well as a terrace, both of which include roughly the same materials. The courtyard and the terrace share a basin that creates a link to the beautiful views unveiling in the distance.
From the architect:
The site is located in a relaxed area where fields and farms are stretching. The west side of the site is visually connected to the distant hill, making the site look like the original Japanese landscape, together with the Torii gate and the approach to the adjacent shrine.
Surrounded by such an environment, a house was requested which blends with the scenery while making the best use of the spacious site of about 330 m2. Incorporating this scenery, the house was then designed to form a U-shaped building with courtyard which secures privacy.
The building form accords with the surrounding views and the range linking with the approach to the shrine.
The interior is configured by a single open room whereas finishes and levels vary to make each space independent and comfortable, creating various scenes as one moves from one place to another.
The huge window and terrace facing the courtyard turns one’s eye to a natural landscape. The terrace and the interior space by the window are related by the same material, making the space flexible by enhancing linkage between inside and outside.
Additionally in the courtyard connected with the terrace, a basin which looks like a water channel is designed to aim at creation of visual linkage with the view opening beyond.
Standing calmly by the stretching landscape, the house gives somewhat an impressive and fresh feel.
·  Architects: FORM | Kouichi Kimura Architects
·  Location: , Japan
·  Area: 304.0 sqm
·  Project Year: 2015
·  Photographs: Yoshihiro Asada