Check Patterned House / IGArchitects

Architects: IGArchitects
Area: 71 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: Ooki Jingu
Structure Engineers: EQSD
Landscape Designers: SOLSO
Construction: ARATA KENCHIKU KOBO, Masanobu Arata
Design Team: IGArchitects
Structure Engineer: Yousuke Misaki
Landscape Designer: Yuuta Itagaki
City: Saitama
Country: Japan

Check Patterned House, designed by IGArchitects, is a reinforced concrete house for a family of three. The design features large wall pillars at two diagonally opposite corners, housing private functions. Floors and roofs are cantilevered from these pillars, similar to branches and leaves. The interior layout allows for flexible movement and interaction between spaces. The checkered arrangement of wall pillars and displaced floors creates a sense of distance, with opaque glass extending this perception outside. The design provides a rich, interconnected interior space within a simple cubic exterior.

This reinforced concrete house was designed for a family of three, with the flexibility to accommodate changes in their lifestyle and their store operations.

At two diagonally opposite corners of the house, large wall pillars have been constructed, appearing disproportionate to the house’s overall scale. These pillars house private functions that don’t require large windows, such as entrances, bathrooms, toilets, storage, and pipe space. The floors and roof outside these wall pillars are not connected to additional foundations or supports but are cantilevered from the pillars, resembling branches extending from a tree trunk. The relationship between the wall pillars and slabs mirrors that of a tree trunk and its leaves.

The interior space features a straightforward circulation path that leads to more private spaces as one moves further in. Similar to birds hopping between branches, this layout allows occupants to move freely between the pillars and floors, spending time wherever they choose.

The two concrete wall pillars, arranged in a checkered pattern with cross-sectionally displaced floors, create a sense of distance. This design allows occupants to perceive the “other side” from any room, a sense further extended by the opaque glass of the exterior wall. Each room transcends its primary function by being interrelated with others, thus separating and expanding the whole space to the outside. Despite its simple cubic form, the architectural design offers a rich interior space with depth and an exterior that complements it.