Yo Yamagata Architects

The site is located on a hillside in an urbanization control zone in the suburbs of Yokohama. The mother, three daughters, and several cats live in the parent household on the first floor, and the couple and their daughter live in the child household on the second floor. Only the entrance is shared, the rest of the house is completely separated. On the west side of the site, there is a natural forest-like garden with various trees, and there is a large persimmon tree by the entrance on the north side. We considered the layout of the building so as to leave those existing trees as much as possible. As the site was large (approximately 150 tsubo), a L-shaped plan with a courtyard at the center was considered appropriate to ensure privacy. However, a courtyard completely enclosed by a two-story building would feel claustrophobic, so we wanted to connect the courtyard to the surrounding environment. On the first floor, a two-car garage was built on the east side of the building, which can be accessed flat from the steep slope, and connected to the courtyard. The interior space is therefore U-shaped, opening to the east. On the second floor, a large terrace was built on one side of the west side, and the interior space is U-shaped, opening to the west, because the view extends to the west. The courtyard opens to the east on the first floor and to the west on the second floor, allowing light to enter and breezes to flow through, since there are openings in both directions. A 3-meter-high malva tree was planted there. The tree in the courtyard is the center of the house, where the two households can live as one.