発見に満ちた日々の場をめざして

駅から町の商店街を抜け、少し歩いていくと明るく開けた区民農園が見えてきます。近くには生産緑地や公園もあり、緑と住宅が交じり合う少し長閑な土地の端にこの集合住宅は建っています。そして部屋のある４階に上ると、大きな窓の先に今辿ってきた景色が遠くまで広がっているのが印象的でした。緑が広がり、その向こうに小さく電車が見え、さらにその先の広い空には雲がゆったりと流れています。

この明るく広がりのある場所の豊かさを活かし、極力オープンでありながら家族がやわらかく居場所を見つけられるような空間を目指しました。既存の間仕切り壁をすべて取り除き、そこにやわらかウォールを立ち上げます。鉄板をシナ合板で挟み込んで作られる厚さ34㎜のそれは、空間をやわらかく分節しながら繋ぎ、そこに居心地を作りだします。さらにキッチン台がふにゃっと伸びてつながった大きなテーブルや、天井を見上げる間仕切収納、風を包み込む色鮮やかなカーテン、柱に寄り添う扉など、愛着を促し空間を繋げる様々なモノたちが一つの空間に同居しています。こうして立ち上げられた家が、家族の成長とともに明るくのびやかに育って行くことを期待しています。

Creating a Place for Everyday Discoveries

Walking from the station through the town's shopping street and a little farther, a bright, open community garden comes into view. Nearby are productive green spaces and parks, and this apartment building stands at the edge of a peaceful neighborhood where greenery and houses intermingle. Upon reaching the apartment on the fourth floor, we were struck by the expansive view through its large windows, revealing the landscape we had just walked through stretching far into the distance. Greenery spreads across the foreground, a small train can be seen passing beyond it, and farther still, clouds drift slowly across the vast sky.

We sought to embrace the richness of this bright and expansive setting, creating a space that remains as open as possible while allowing each family member to gently find a place of their own. All existing partition walls were removed and replaced with what we call "Soft Walls." Made of steel plates sandwiched between layers of shina plywood, these slender, 34 mm-thick walls softly divide and connect the space, creating comfortable places to inhabit.

A variety of distinctive elements coexist within this single open space: a large table that emerges as a playful, fluid extension of the kitchen counter; a storage partition that reaches upward toward the ceiling; vividly colored curtains that embrace the passing breeze; and a door that nestles against a column. Each element invites affection and creates connections throughout the space.

We hope that this home, shaped by these diverse elements, will continue to grow into a bright and openhearted place alongside the family who inhabits it.