Architect: Ryohei Tanaka/ G ARCHITECTS STUDIO
Co-design: SANSUI-SHA Co.,Ltd.
Project manager: Hiroaki Yamakami/ SANSUI-SHA Co.,Ltd.
Direction: Kenta Kobayashi*
Construction: Terunobu Anzai, Hiroto Inoue/ Anzaikomuten
Structure design: Naoto Tamura/ DIX
Landscape design: Akihiko Ono/ SfG
Lighting design: Toki Hirai
Furniture and fixtures production: Takahiro Naito*
Client: Kishi-ke Co.,Ltd.
Art director: Hitomi Kishi/ **
Photo credit: Daisuke Shima
*SANSUI-SHA Co.,Ltd.
**Kishi-ke Co.,Ltd.
Concept
These are houses for making profits. The clients live in one of the houses, and make profits by accommodating guests. These are also houses which gave the clients the opportunity to start a second career. They function as both a residence and a Ryokan (Ryokan = traditional Japanese inn) situated by the sea. The accommodation for the guests is rented out as an entire building on its own.
The clients are a young married couple, who had a side business renting out their old traditional Japanese house to tourists in Tokyo. Then, they decided to move to Kamakura. They were looking for space where they could live and also welcome their guests. We turned almost the entire space into a space for welcoming guests, and their living space has become minimal.
As a result, it has become two small houses. The clients’ goal is to be a “counter” option to those major hotels even though it is small and a newcomer. The site was situated in a dense residential area, and the short side was facing the sea. We planned to create the small main house and annex, and place a Japanese garden in the center.
By building the two separate houses, it gives a premium to the rental business as it is rented out as an “entire place”, and also the movement lanes between the two buildings make it possible to enjoy both the ocean view and the Japanese
garden. The ground floor of the main building is a dining room where you can enjoy the ocean view over the building. Only the second floor is a residential area for the clients.
Small is better
The world has changed with covid-19. People stopped going out and began to avoid crowds. A large number of tourists have disappeared from the large hotel. Coincidentally, this Ryokan was not. This Ryokan has only two small buildings. And the customers are reserved for one group each time. At the beginning of the business, there were many customers from overseas. Currently, domestic customers are gathering for peace of mind.
