Hopscotch House / Hiramoto Design Studio

Architects: Hiramoto Design Studio
Location: Saitama, Japan
Lead Architect: Hideyuki Hiramoto
Construction: Kobayashi
Area: 155.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Koji Fujii / Nacasa & Partners

Text description provided by the architects. This family who had lived individually decided to live together under one roof. In this project I tried to design a space that allowed these people who were used to living alone build an agreeable friendship by keeping a moderate distance from each other.

Caring for ease of access, a one-story house was requested. I thought hard about how to bring light and wind into the center of the house.

I divided the building into parts, each with their own function, and placed them in a layout “1+2+1+2+1” like Hopscotch game. By doing this, I led the house to the following solutions;

1. Since these divided parts were joined on each shifting position, with this train of spaces I could make some Waists (joining/dividing points) and some Pools (spaces with each function) in the house. When you make an excursion within the house, you can feel refreshing rhythms. And a resident can relax in a pool which was chosen while maintaining a distance from others.

2. The double position (split parts) created a patio which would bring light and wind into the center of the house.

3. Double spaces in this position (split parts) are also useful as corridors for connecting between single units. With this I could not only cut the space which would have been needed for corridors but also gave some opportunities to feel closer to others easily. It is important to measure the distance from others.