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Cubo Design Architect Builds a House Around Light on Water

ByMyProperty Life

In the coastal terrain of eastern Japan, where salt air drifts through bamboo groves and mandarin orchards slope toward the Pacific, Cubo Design Architect conceived 10M, a residence that makes water its organizing principle. The home features 56,000 square feet of gently inclined land, creating the stage for an architectural project structured entirely around its 65-foot swimming pool, which functions less as recreational amenity than as generator of light, rhythm, and atmospheric presence.

Modern living room with beige sofas, a wooden coffee table, and an open wall leading to a patio, pool, and outdoor lawn with lounge chairs and a view of the ocean.

The pool establishes the compositional spine, aligned deliberately with the citrus grove to the south. The architecture unfolds from this axis, all while keeping water as the home’s focus. The surface of the water catches fragmenting sunlight, creating a sparkle perceptible from every interior space. The manipulation of spatial sequence draws directly from Sukiya-zukuri architecture, the restrained aesthetic tradition formed from Japanese tea ceremony spaces. The entry unfolds through compression and release – a cave-like approach tunnel opens to a dim gallery, then through wide doors into the pool-facing expanse. The design forces adjustment of the eyes, amplifying perceived luminosity through controlled contrast.

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Modern living room with beige sectional sofa, glass coffee tables, and large sliding doors opening to a patio, pool, and landscaped garden with trees and distant hills.

Modern dining area with a long table and chairs, pendant lights above, and large open doors leading to a pool and garden view; several boxes are stacked near the wall.

The embedded tea room pushes this material and atmospheric precision through the function of the residence’s terminus. It borrows views into neighboring bamboo while deploying traditional elements – bark-wrapped columns, natural plaster walls, compositional gestures sourced from the 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyū – with the architects creating their own reinterpretation.

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Spacious modern bathroom with large mirrors, marble countertops, a freestanding bathtub, floor-to-ceiling windows, and neutral-toned walls and floors.

A minimalist Japanese garden with a single tree, gravel, and moss is enclosed by bamboo fencing, viewed from a wooden deck with bamboo forest in the background.

A dimly lit, narrow hallway with smooth brown walls, arched entryway, and a single stone bench along one side, leading to a softly illuminated area at the end.

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The pared palette and minimal detailing function as perceptual training, heightening awareness of environmental shifts that richer surfaces might obscure. Wind in bamboo, water ripples, bird calls, and distant surf are framed as primary content rather than backdrop. Supporting this domestic life are functional insertions handled with equal economy – wine storage, guest quarters, fitness space, all subordinate to the larger atmospheric project.

Modern living room with a sectional sofa facing large glass doors that open to a pool and patio, with a scenic outdoor view at dusk.

Modern open-plan living room with large sectional sofa, coffee tables, and view into a contemporary kitchen and outdoor patio area, illuminated by natural and interior lighting.

Modern house at night with large glass windows, outdoor seating area, pool, and view of an open-plan interior with dining and living spaces.

Modern two-story house with flat roofs, large glass windows, and a rectangular swimming pool in a landscaped backyard under a clear blue sky.

Modern house with large windows, outdoor lounge area, and a swimming pool in front, surrounded by lush green trees and clear blue sky.

A modern, flat-roofed beige house with large windows sits beside a winding concrete path, surrounded by grass, plants, and trees under a blue sky.

To learn more about 10M and Cubo Design Architect, please visit cubod.com.

Photography by Koji Fujii / TOREAL.

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.

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