Inspired by the design of a traditional Japanese house, BIG‘s NOT A HOTEL Setouchi merges Scandinavian and Japanese aesthetics. Located on Sagi Island, the firm’s vision brings three villas and a restaurant to the island’s southwestern cape.
BIG’s plan prioritizes the natural landscape, offering sweeping views of the sea and restoring the undulating landscape. Olive trees, lemon trees, and other native vegetation will be reintroduced to enhance the island’s natural beauty.
“Our design approach for NOT A HOTEL Setouchi wasn’t about imposing our ideas on the site; instead, it involved exploring, observing, and understanding the landscape,” explains Bjarke Ingels, BIG Founder and Creative Director. “We envisioned how to best leverage this distinctive and remarkable terrain and fixed upon a design that mirrors the elegance of traditional Japanese architecture.”
The three villas are angled at 180°, 270°, and 360° to correspond with the views they provide and are spread across different levels. The round 360° villa is situated at the highest level and offers a central courtyard for privacy. The 270° villa has a corresponding panorama and features bathing spaces arranged like floating islands around a pool, as well as a sauna and fire pit.
Poised at the tip of the peninsula, the 180° villa takes advantage of its position with its curved design that hugs the coastal landscape. With mossy pathways and trees that change color, it’s an immersive experience with nature.
These single-story dwellings are an homage to Japanese craftsmanship. The floors, walls, roofs, and façades respect traditional Japanese architectural elements while reimagining them for modern times. For instance, the glass façades are a modern interpretation of shoji screens, and the natural slate floors form patterns reminiscent of tatami mats.
Sustainability is also important to the design. The curved clay walls are formed using a traditional rammed earth technique with soil collected on-site. In addition, all of the roofs are covered with solar tiles, and rainwater collected from the roof will be used to irrigate the landscaping.
“Japan is one of the cultures in the world where commitment to craft and care for quality remains intact,” shares Ingels. “The honesty and simplicity of the structure and careful choice of materials can be said to have greatly influenced the traditional architecture of Japan and the modern architecture of Denmark. Maybe that’s why when I go to Japan, I always feel like I’m coming home.
“NOT A HOTEL Setouchi will be an experiment in what happens when the sensibilities of both countries come together–the Danish desire for simplicity and the care and perfection of Japan.”
The site, which is spread across nearly 7.5 acres, will break ground later this year.
NOT A HOTEL Setouchi is a new project by BIG on a remote island in Japan.
Render: LIT
The resort is comprised of three villas and a restaurant set into the undulating landscape of Sagi Island.
Render: LIT
The three villas are angled at 180°, 270°, and 360° to correspond with the views they provide.
Each dwelling is an homage to Japanese craftsmanship.
“NOT A HOTEL Setouchi will be an experiment in what happens when the sensibilities of both countries come together–the Danish desire for simplicity and the care and perfection of Japan.”
The clients are a couple of environmental scientists who, along with their two sons, relocated from the Oakland Hills to the warmer climate of Orinda. Their commitment to sustainability, including a request for net-zero energy performance annually, was evident in their thinking throughout the design process. A three-bedroom program began as a remodel of a 1954 ranch house at the foot of a hill next to a seasonal creek. After finding the existing structure and soils to be unsuitable, the direction settled on reusing the existing footprint under the shade of a Valley Oak that had grown up close to the original house. The surviving portion of the original house is the fireplace which was wrapped in concrete and utilized for structural support. This made additional grading unnecessary and allowed the new house to maintain the same intimate relation to the old oak. The family desired an open living layout that connected directly to the landscape. A mezzanine plan evolved with a double height family space nested with a master bedroom and study stacked above the kitchen and nook. A screened pacing deck for long phone calls shades the upper level from afternoon summer sun. Downstairs, secondary bedrooms along an extendable hallway, wrap an outdoor dining area situated between the kitchen and family room. Construction materials and methods were considered in balance between first and lifecycle costs. The Corten steel rain screen for the exterior skin and interior wood were chosen to take advantage of zero annual maintenance cost and a shotcrete foundation allowed formwork to be repurposed for wood framing. Single use material selections such as the Corten steel and shotcrete foundation reduced complexity in detailing and labor costs allowing a larger portion of the budget to be reallocated for upgraded mechanical, insulation, and glazing systems. The same attitude for interior finishes produced acoustically insulated, unfinished oak ceilings and walls. The sum total of the limited and landscape-driven materials presents a relaxed and quiet built environment that allows the senses to focus on the natural environment. A haptic connection to the rhythms of our planet is evident. A 14-gauge Corten rain screen provides a no-maintenance skin. High levels of insulation and glazing efficiency reduce heating and cooling loads. An 8.1kW photovoltaic system provides on-site renewable energy and produced more electrical energy than the house used the first year. Rainwater is collected via a waterfall from the roof at the end of the hallway. Buried tanks store water for use in toilets and laundry. Greywater is collected separately and reused for irrigation. Electronically commutated motors and variable speed heat pumps are used to further limit energy use and control heating and cooling. An energy recovery ventilator is used to provide fresh air.
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