Ryuji Yamashita Architects

This is the home of a family consisting of a couple—one a school teacher and the other a school lunch nutritionist—and their two children. Hearing that they enjoy cooking as a hobby and that they both have weekends off and long summer and winter holidays, we suggested they open a cafe on their days off, which marked the beginning of the design process. The location is Nanporo Town, Hokkaido. It is a flat area with a vast Ishikari Plain. The town promotes a relaxed lifestyle with low density and abundant greenery, and in this particular area, the rule is that you must purchase two plots of land, and one of them is prohibited from being used for construction. We chose a pleasant site with a wide green space across from where there is no possibility of houses being built, and planned a house that opens up greatly in that direction, which could eventually become a cafe. The completed house has a tiered cross-section that connects to the ground via a wooden deck, so that the viewer's gaze is naturally directed towards the ground. The first floor is designed with the possibility of becoming a cafe in mind, and a large dining kitchen table measuring 10 meters wide was custom-made. When the windows are opened, it connects to the table on the wooden deck, expanding the space and accommodating large parties. By eliminating the boundary between the dining room and kitchen, the table is versatile, making it easy to prepare any dish and seat a large number of people. The raised seating area serves as a relaxation space, and can also be partitioned with a roll screen to be used as a guest bedroom. The second floor houses the bedrooms and children's rooms. A hallway equipped with a mini-kitchen and desk connects to the first floor via an open atrium, and after the children have grown up and left home, it can be used as seating for a cafe. At a time when high prices make it difficult to build a house, this project also struggled with budget adjustments, but the income from running the cafe will make it possible to cover the mortgage. In the coming era, I think it will be necessary to have various mechanisms in place to make houses work for you.