Project: Tokugawa-cho Guest House
Architects: Tomoaki Uno Architects
location: Aichi, Japan
general: 2021
photos by: Yasuo Hagiwara
Tokugawa-cho Guest House designed by Tomoaki Uno Architects
Tomoaki Uno Architects have renovated a traditional Japanese family home in Aichi, Japan. The renovation has transformed it into a versatile guesthouse with contemporary touches.
Tokugawa-cho Guesthouse is the latest intervention from Tomoaki Uno, in which the clinic has renovated a single-family home in Aichi, transforming it into a versatile guesthouse. Attempting to bring a great deal of traditional wood construction together with new technologies, the architect managed to realize three new adjoining spaces including a storage room, a tea ceremony house, and a separate office.
True to his intent to mirror much of traditional Japanese architecture, Tomoaki Uno engaged a craftsman from Kyoto to assemble the wooden pole and beam, which were then brought to the site, and create the Tea Ceremon House. The latter is finished with a traditional woven taupe (or tecomai) base.
Other structures of the guest house reflect the marriage of the original house’s traditional with contemporary touches, highlighted by the storeroom form which contrasts with the pre-existing gable roof. The units merge with the deliberate use of similar materials, finishes and tones. In fact, adapting from the old to the new without overriding the home’s historical value seems to be the underlying theme throughout.
– Tomoaki Ono Architects
