Japanese architecture firm Studio Velocity has planned a home for a couple and their three children in Aichi Prefecture in Japan. The site is irregular and surrounded by many fenced houses and hedges.

The objective of the design was to involve the hedges in the spatial composition, consequently, the existing hedges are maintained and integrated into the project, allowing the function of filter and privacy and marking the limits of the house.
The living space of Studio Velocity's project is developed on one level, to maintain the complex close to the ground, and it's covered with very thin wooden roofs that withstand earthquakes thanks to a series of solid interior walls.

The outer walls are finished with a transparent material, connecting the interior spaces with the hedges and giving the place a green atmosphere. Also, the layout is large and the different interior functions are independents from the structure.
 

Description of project by Studio Velocity

Housing for married couples and children located in Aichi, Japan. The surrounding area is different from the well-maintained cityscape, and there is a narrow and diagonal road that remains from the old days, and you can see irregular sites. The site was irregular due to the proximity of narrow roads running diagonally. There are many houses around the site with fences and hedges. The issue was how to relate this to the spatial composition. 

The existing hedge was just one layer high. Therefore, the whole living space was made into a one-story building (12.4 ㎡ on the second floor) and the living space is surrounded by hedges. By having existing hedges take on the function of preventing visibility that the outer wall of the architecture originally plays, the outer wall can be finished with a transparent material. In addition, the height of the seismic core with walls is lower than that of the hedges, and the twelve large roofs that float the upper part allow the entire site to be felt from inside, making it a livable space. From the outside, hedges and core walls ensured the privacy of the inside, but also made it possible to see the view from under the roof, reducing the presence of the building.

The layout is large and scattered so that you can feel the various environments on the premises. Public places such as living, dining, music space and business negotiation space are located at the center, and private rooms are arranged avoiding them. By arranging the large roof and the seismic core are shifted in both plane and section, we thought that the arrangement would be freely assembled from functions and structures, which would lead to freedom of life. The gap between the large roof and the core gives a glimpse of the future of the children, which will expand greatly.

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480 sqm.
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2019.
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Kentaro Kurihara (1977, Saitama, Japan) and Miho Iwatsuki (1977, Aichi, Japan) both worked at Junya Ishigami + Associates in the period 2004-2005. In 2006, they decided to establish the office Studio Velocity. Both are teachers at Aichi Sangyo University, and Kurihara also works at Toyota National college of Technology. They have received several prizes, among their latest awards is the winning prize at the International Architecture Awards (2011) and the AR House 2013.

Kurihara and Iwatsuki have participated in a number of private and group exhibitions, like "JA86 Next Generation -Manifestations of Architects Under 35" in Tokyo, 2012, and "Traces of Centuries & Future Steps", at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012.

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Published on: July 21, 2020
Cite: "A green atmosphere. House surrounded by the hedges by Studio Velocity" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-green-atmosphere-house-surrounded-hedges-studio-velocity> ISSN 1139-6415
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