Articles by Hana Abdel

It is a complex use building of office and housing in Nissin city, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The client is a construction company specializing in “wooden house” while long rooted in local. There are three major things that I felt to have to realize when I proceeded with this project. ① To be a building that will become a landmark in the area. ② The way of thinking about “house making” is appearing in architecture. ③ A house where the client after retirement can live peacefully as their final abode.

This ranch-style home is located in a quiet suburban neighborhood in the Kanto region. The clients purchased the tiered, irregularly shaped lot as a place to spend meaningful time as a family. They wanted courtyards to play a big part in their home life, and to fulfill that request, the design makes use of the distinctive property shape and topography.

This architecture is the husband’s popular Chinese restaurant, his wife’s hair salon and their home. In the case where each store in a different business format and a private residence coexist, the 1st floor is each store and the 2nd floor is their house. The gable roof type was divided into two to create a courtyard, and each store had a good sense of distance.

The project is the underground extension to an existing residence in Ahmedabad, India. The brief asked for a recreational area with a lap-pool, gym and spa, while retaining most of the garden around the house. To achieve this the extension was placed underground, where it connects directly to an existing basement entertainment area. Here the pool forms the new main central element. The spa floats on it like a lantern. Its ribbed glass louvers can be used to control the degree of privacy.