Japanese apartments feature translucent inner huts

Kuma&Elsa, an architecture studio, has renovated the top two floors of an apartment block in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture, creating a unique living space inspired by traditional Japanese design. The project, known as Nakano House, features a central “hut” on each floor, surrounded by a space that opens onto balconies, reminiscent of a traditional Japanese engawa.

The client, who wanted to recreate the feeling of her childhood home, collaborated with Kuma&Elsa to design two apartments: one for herself on the sixth floor and one for her son’s family on the seventh floor.

Founders Shohei Kuma and Elsa Escobedo explained that they introduced a “hut” at the center of each floor, defining the surrounding space as an engawa, or a residual, negative space.

The hut’s boundaries are not fixed, allowing them to extend and connect different areas, forming a continuous living environment across each floor.

The huts were constructed using a simple steel frame, fixed to the apartment block’s concrete floor plates and braced to the ceiling with steel cables.

Translucent, sliding screens of plastic framed in timber allow the bedrooms and living spaces inside to be opened up to the surrounding area, where the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining spaces are located.

Timber flooring of the hut interiors extends out to form a perimeter, mimicking a traditional timber engawa, with a zigzagging edge where it meets the surrounding concrete floor.

According to the report, the idea of leaving certain elements deliberately unfinished, allowing them to evolve over time, emerged through dialogue with the client and her family.

Kuma and Escobedo noted that the site, being a recent apartment, lacks pre-existing elements or surfaces marked by age and patina, so the sense of “incompleteness” introduces a temporal dimension into the project.

The engawa is a traditional Japanese architectural feature that serves as a transitional space between the inside and outside of a building, and it is this concept that influenced the design of Nakano House, particularly in its use of custom homes design elements.

The photography of Nakano House is by Shohei Kuma.

Nakano House’s Unique Design

The use of translucent screens and sliding doors allows for a seamless transition between the interior and exterior spaces, creating a sense of continuity and flow, much like what is achieved in a successful commercial refurbishment project.

The steel frame construction of the huts provides a sense of industrial chic, while the timber flooring and shutters add warmth and texture to the space.

The deliberate decision to leave certain elements unfinished, such as the fire-resistant plasterboard roofs, adds a sense of impermanence and unpredictability to the design.

Traditional Japanese Influences

The design of Nakano House is heavily influenced by traditional Japanese architecture, particularly the concept of the engawa.

It serves as a transitional space between the inside and outside, allowing for a gradual transition between the two.

In Nakano House, the engawa is recreated through the use of the central hut and the surrounding space, which opens onto balconies and provides a sense of connection to the outside, making it essential to select a reliable professional to handle the logistics of such a project.

The use of natural materials, such as timber and steel, adds to the sense of tradition and heritage in the design.