A couple decided to purchase newly developed land that was for sale. In front of their lot, there is a spreading field and a distant train is running. Although the site is surrounded by this idyllic landscape, this plot of newly developed land was elongated, having a 7-meter long width and a 23-meter depth.

© Kenta Kawamura

Architects: ALTS DESIGN OFFICE

Location: Japan

Area: 122.9 m2

Project Year: 2018

Photographs: Kenta Kawamura

© Kenta Kawamura

Text description provided by the architects. A couple decided to purchase newly developed land that was for sale. In front of their lot, there is a spreading field and a distant train is running. Although the site is surrounded by this idyllic landscape, this plot of newly developed land was elongated, having a 7-meter long width and a 23-meter depth.
© Kenta Kawamura

The houses in the area have small front areas, so it is normal to use the width of the land to its maximum extent when building a house, resulting in houses being tightly built and without much space. The area is surrounded by idyllic scenes of nature, so I felt that if the houses were located densely near each other then there would be less outside space, and that would be a shame. I tried to find a way to make more outside space, even just a little.

Ground Floor Plan

Hence, as a way to feel the outside, we developed our concept, which was to install a garden...