Sustainable Japanese Home with Grass Roof and a Breezy Modern Design

If you love sustainable homes that rely on smart deign, an intuitive floor plan and solutions that rely more on simplicity rather than on modern technology, the House-K in Tateyama, Japan is the one for you. Designed by N.A.O, this innovative and modern Japanese home has an interior that is draped in wood with sliding glass walls and a gray exterior bringing modernity to the smart setting. Nestled on a large lot that is over 1200 square meters in size, the home itself is just 70 square meters in size and has been created with an eye on the future. With an adaptable lower level and a first floor that contains a bedroom and green roof all around, minimalism is combined with eco-friendly architecture seamlessly.

Gorgeous use of sliding glass doors connect the entire home with the landscape outside it








Step outside the upper level bedroom with its large sliding glass doors and you will can enjoy a lovely walk on the carpeted roof along with the sights and sounds of the landscape in the distance. The first floor bedroom seems to stick out like a periscope and feels both private and open at the same time. On the ground floor you have the open plan living space with a comfy sectional in gray, a modern kitchen draped entirely in wood and a dining room next to it. With extensive glass walls and windows on one side, the outdoors are always a part of the living space in here.

Finding that seamless connectivity between the interior and the world outside
Lovely woodsy living area and kitchen of the house with sliding glass doors that connect it to the outdoors
Minimal playroom of the modern Japanese home with sliding glass doors
Open wooden shelves of the entry hold everything from the footwear to smart decorative pieces
Small sectional gray sofa for the modern living room with wood walls and sliding glass doors

Minimal modern décor, a hint of innate simplicity that is native to Japanese design and warm lighting complete this exceptional and green home with a difference! [Photography: Shinichi Hanaoka]

Contemporary home in glass and gray in Tateyama, Japan
Unique upper level of the house with smart design that extends into the green rooftop outside
Upper level bedroom of the innovative and adaptable Japanese home
Angular walls at the end of the house give it a unique geometric appeal
Cleverly placed recessed lights take over after sunset in the living room

You’re reading Sustainable Japanese Home with Grass Roof and a Breezy Modern Design, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Similar Posts

  • Hillside Sanctuary

    The owner of this property came to Hoedemaker Pfeiffer looking for a personal retreat inspired by a home lost to fire decades earlier in the hills of Appalachia. The firm’s task was not to recreate that home but rather to give its spirit new form in the Pacific Northwest. Taking inspiration from its remote site in the San Juan Islands, our team envisioned a series of simple stone volumes. From that concept emerged the main house and a guest house, each responding to its own unique location on the site. Together they provide friends and family with comfortable accommodation while offering a sanctuary for the owner at the main home. Taking full advantage of sweeping views of Puget Sound, the main home is sited on a small plateau high on top of a steeply-sloping hillside. With a view on one side and a road on the other, the site suggested a stone plinth and stone wall to form the base and rear of the house. A pair of stone fireplace volumes support the concept, rising together to form the boundaries of a central stone staircase that separates the main level into public and private realms. Atop the low stone base then perches a light-filled wood structure. Its simple shed roof tips low in front to protect from the summer sun while offering space for a photovoltaic array above. Winter light in turn penetrates deep into the main living spaces through a wall of glass running continuously across building’s south elevation. The relative height difference between this wood pavilion and that of the adjacent stone volume also allows consistent north light to flood into the primary living spaces via a series of clerestory windows, which release warm air high on the leeward side of the structure. The site for the guest house came with more significant technical challenges. The concept begins with a stone tower set near the center of the small circular parcel. Rising high above steeply-sloping grade, it acts as a three-dimensional datum through which feature program elements are allowed to puncture. The main entry offers ease of access to the project’s public spaces through a simple, full-height opening cut into the stone volume’s north elevation. The stair, comprised of a concrete base below large casement windows, allows natural light to fill the main stairway as it leads guests toward the bedrooms located at the home’s lower level. Opposite the entry, the view deck extends from the great room, cantilevering far above grade. The dining room, finally, was conceived as a three-sided glass object floating in a forest of trees. Two steel beams carry its entire weight and extend deep into the floor system. To enhance the concept, our team preserved trees only a few feet from the dining room by developing custom retaining walls capable of avoiding critical root zones. Project Team: Hoedemaker Pfeiffer (Architecture) ​Schuchart Dow​ (Contractor ​Randy Allworth, Allworth Design​ (Landscape Architect) ​Malsam Tsang​ (Structural Engineer) ​LPD Engineering​ (Civil Engineer) Nelson Geotechnical Associates, Inc. (Geotechnical Engineer) Island Tree Doctor (Arborist) ​Kevin Scott​ (Photographer)