White Cave House | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio The conventional courtyard house confronts a climatic paradox in Kanazawa, Japan, where winter snow accumulates in deep, persistent layers. Traditionally associated with sunlit, arid environments, heavy snowfall can fundamentally challenge the courtyard typology. In response to these conditions, Takuro Yamamoto Architects devised White Cave House, a residence that critiques, reshapes, and revalidates the courtyard model for a snowy suburban context. White Cave House Technical Information Architects1-8: Takuro Yamamoto Architects Location: Kanazawa, Japan Area: 172.33 m2 | 1,855 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2011 – 2013 Photographs: © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio We proposed to connect these external spaces one another into a large single tube, or Cave, and have each part serve multiple purposes in order to make up for the space limitations. – Takuro Yamamoto Architects White Cave House Photographs Facade | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio White Cave House: Adapting Typology to Climate This single-family house, located on a 493.88 m² site, is not merely a formal exercise in white minimalism but an attempt to resolve spatial contradictions through architectural strategy. Rather than prioritizing interior space at the expense of outdoor functions or vice versa, the architects introduce a third condition: the Cave. This spatial system, composed of a continuous, cranked void, acts as a connective and generative device that rethinks how program, privacy, and climate interact. The initial brief called for a home with minimal expression and multiple exterior spaces, including a roofed garage, a covered entrance, a sky-facing terrace, and a courtyard. However, in Kanazawa, such outdoor amenities often become non-functional in winter. Snow not only conceals the courtyard but complicates access to the home. To navigate this contradiction, the design reframes the courtyard as part of a larger architectural system. The solution was not to compartmentalize or reduce but to integrate. By spatially linking the outdoor elements into a continuous, kinked tube, what the architects describe as a White Cave, each programmatic element retains autonomy while benefiting from collective spatial logic. This bent and folded cave balances visibility and opacity, allowing light and air to circulate while preserving internal privacy. The project becomes an architectural diagram in three dimensions, an exercise in folding a linear void into a coherent living framework that works both in summer and under heavy snow. Spatial Logic and Visual Continuity Unlike most courtyard homes, where the courtyard is the central void around which functions are organized, White Cave House positions the void itself as a pathway. This void is not residual but essential: it is the architecture. The kinked configuration of the Cave mediates privacy by obstructing direct lines of sight from the street. Its geometry offers framed, oblique views rather than open panoramas. This spatial logic introduces a sense of depth and progression, transforming what could have been leftover outdoor space into a dynamic corridor of light and shadow. Internally, rooms are organized to face this void, not for outward views but for carefully curated inward experiences. In a sense, the architecture turns itself inside out. The Cave becomes both a facade and an interior, challenging conventional spatial hierarchies. Materiality and Phenomenological Depth Materially, the house is defined by its white monochrome in form and surface treatment. Thick, load-bearing walls, painted in matte white, produce a monolithic impression, emphasizing the house’s sculptural quality. The continuous whiteness allows subtle changes in light and texture, seasonal, daily, and momentary, to become the focus of visual experience. Perhaps most striking is the use of water as a spatial modifier. A thin basin integrated into the terrace captures shallow pools of water, transforming a flat surface into a reflective void. As sky and sunlight dance across its surface, the basin becomes a mirror of atmospheric conditions. Here, the Cave no longer just carves through solid material; it also holds and reflects the ephemeral. This material clarity extends into structural decisions. The wooden frame is not articulated expressively but concealed to reinforce the building’s mass-like presence. The result is a space that feels not constructed but excavated. White Cave House Plans Floor Plan | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Sections | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Elevations | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects White Cave House Image Gallery About Takuro Yamamoto Architects Takuro Yamamoto Architects is a Tokyo-based architectural practice founded in 2005 by Takuro Yamamoto. The firm is renowned for its minimalist residential designs that thoughtfully integrate light, voids, and spatial continuity. Their work often explores the interplay between interior and exterior spaces, emphasizing privacy and openness. Notable projects include the White Cave House and the Little House with a Big Terrace, both exemplifying the firm’s commitment to creating timeless architecture that responds to its environment. Credits and Additional Notes Structure: Wood Design Period: Feb 2011 – Sept 2012 Construction Period: Oct 2012 – June 2013 Structural Engineer: Yamada Noriaki Structural Design Office Construction: Ninomiya-Kensetsu Client: Married couple + child Site Area: 493.88 m² Building Area: 132.68 m² #white #cave #house #takuro #yamamoto

F-WHITE Aerial View | © Kindaikouku In a quiet residential area of Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, F-WHITE emerges as a spatial response to three simultaneous conditions: a client’s desire for unity, the awkward geometry of a leftover suburban lot, and the architectural lineage of the Japanese courtyard house. Designed by Takuro Yamamoto Architects, this one-story residence challenges normative interpretations of courtyard living through a deceptively simple yet highly deliberate plan. F-WHITE Technical Information Architects1-11: Takuro Yamamoto Architects Location: Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan Area: 122.03 m2 | 1,313.86 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2007 – 2009 Photographs: © Kindaikouku, © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio This oblique angle makes the courtyard look like a box which happened to be thrown out on one very large internal space. – Takuro Yamamoto Architects F-WHITE Photographs Aerial View | © Kindaikouku Aerial View | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Facade | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Facade | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Courtyard | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Courtyard | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Living Room | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Living Room | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Kitchen | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Interior | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Bedroom | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Corner | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Office | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio F-WHITE Context and Design Intent The conceptual genesis of F-WHITE was shaped by the client’s request for a spatially unified home that would not fragment the daily rhythms of a three-member family into disconnected rooms or vertical divisions. The insistence on a single-story scheme was not a stylistic preference but a spatial demand: the desire to maintain a continuous, communal living environment, resisting the compartmentalization typical of multi-story dwellings. The site itself offered both a provocation and an opportunity. At 259.31 m², it is larger than the standard suburban plot yet unusually narrow, an irregularity that had consigned it to use as a parking lot for decades. This inherent contradiction, generous area paired with constrained proportion, led the architects to reconsider the role of central outdoor space. Rather than impose a traditional orthogonal courtyard at the heart of the dwelling, the team sought an alternate geometry to reconcile continuity with division. Spatial Strategy and Courtyard Geometry F-WHITE’s defining gesture lies in the courtyard’s rotation. Placed at an oblique angle within the house’s orthogonal boundary, the courtyard interrupts the expected spatial reading. This tilt is more than a formal device; it allows the surrounding interior spaces to link fluidly at their corners, bypassing the need for corridors and reinforcing a sense of spatial cohesion. This move mitigates the typical courtyard issue in narrow lots, where the outdoor void threatens to divide rather than unify. In F-WHITE, the courtyard is perceived not as a central void to be circumnavigated but as a geometric insert, a spatial wedge around which the house unfurls. It appears almost incidental, like a box that has landed within a continuous interior shell, carving subtle niches and allowing glimpses of the sky without fracturing the whole. Notably, the plan avoids over-articulation. Functions are assigned with clarity, yet the transitions between public and private realms are not demarcated by walls but by proximity, orientation, and visibility changes. The residence achieves a spatial sequence of unfolding rather than zoning, and each corner turned offers a fresh yet familiar perspective on the courtyard’s presence. Material Palette and Tectonic Expression Materially, F-WHITE adheres to a restrained palette that reinforces its conceptual clarity. The interior is defined by birch flooring, lauan plywood ceilings, and plasterboard walls finished with AEP, creating an atmosphere of calm continuity. These surfaces absorb and reflect light with subtle variation, amplifying the temporal and climatic shifts orchestrated by the central courtyard. The mortar lysin exterior gives the house a muted, almost anonymous presence from the outside. This subdued finish resists spectacle and reinforces the introverted nature of the design; its architectural intensity is reserved for those who inhabit the space rather than those who pass by. The project is rooted in wood-frame construction, a pragmatic and contextually appropriate choice structurally. Built by Nagano-Koumuten and furnished by Tallman STUDIO, the residence balances craft with efficiency, eschewing expressive tectonics in favor of modest precision. The architecture does not draw attention to its construction; instead, it invites attention to the voids, transitions, and relationships it enables. F-WHITE Plans Site Plan | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Section | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Perspective | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects F-WHITE Image Gallery About Takuro Yamamoto Architects Takuro Yamamoto Architects is a Tokyo-based architectural practice founded in 2005 by Takuro Yamamoto. It is known for its minimalist residential designs that emphasize spatial continuity, natural light, and the integration of voids to enhance privacy and openness. The firm’s work often explores the interplay between solid and void, crafting serene environments that respond thoughtfully to site constraints and client needs. Notable projects include the White Cave House and F-WHITE, which exemplify their commitment to creating timeless, context-sensitive architecture. Credits and Additional Notes Project Architect: Eiji Iwase Structural Engineer: Masuda Structural Engineering Office Construction: Nagano-Koumuten Furniture Design: tallman STUDIO Structure: Wood Frame Construction Client: Married couple with one child Site Area: 259.31 m² Building Area: 122.03 m² Total Floor Area: 118.99 m²Design Period: August 2007 – October 2008 Construction Period: November 2008 – April 2009 #fwhite #takuro #yamamoto #architects #courtyard

Courtyard House without Second Floor | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio In the dense urban fabric of Tokyo’s low-rise residential zones, the idea of a courtyard house often arrives burdened with contradictions. While courtyards promise tranquility, daylight, and spatial openness, they simultaneously risk exposure in neighborhoods where proximity to adjacent buildings is a constant reality. In Courtyard House without Second Floor, Takuro Yamamoto Architects responds to this tension not by enclosing the courtyard at ground level, as is typical in urban Japan, but by lifting it skyward and, in doing so, rethinking the basic assumptions of residential typology. Courtyard House without Second Floor Technical Information Architects1-11: Takuro Yamamoto Architects Location: Tokyo, Japan Area: 84.81 m2 | 912.87 Sq. Ft. Completion Year: 2023 Photographs: © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio By having a courtyard on the third floor where one does not need to worry about neighbors’ houses, and by making the living room that faces the courtyard the main living space, it is possible to propose a lifestyle of living with the sky. – Takuro Yamamoto Architects Courtyard House without Second Floor Photographs © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Rethinking the Urban Courtyard Typology In the dense urban fabric of Tokyo’s low-rise residential zones, the idea of a courtyard house often arrives burdened with contradictions. While courtyards promise tranquility, daylight, and spatial openness, they simultaneously risk exposure in neighborhoods where proximity to adjacent buildings is a constant reality. In Courtyard House without Second Floor, Takuro Yamamoto Architects responds to this tension not by enclosing the courtyard at ground level, as is typical in urban Japan, but by lifting it skyward and, in doing so, rethinking the basic assumptions of residential typology. Commissioned by a couple seeking privacy and serenity within a compact urban site, the house proposes a bold inversion of conventional planning. Rather than layering private and public functions vertically, the architects chose to eliminate the second floor entirely, allowing the first and third floors to operate in deliberate dialogue. The result is a residence that privileges visual and environmental connection with the sky while subtly redefining the relationship between floor height, program, and spatial character. Design Intent and Spatial Strategy: Living with the Sky At the core of the project lies a radical conceptual maneuver: displacing the courtyard from the ground to the third floor. This decision emerges from a critique of the traditional urban courtyard model. In this Tokyo neighborhood, where surrounding buildings are often taller and closely spaced, a ground-level courtyard would likely be overlooked, compromising its function as a private outdoor room. High surrounding walls could restore privacy but at the cost of daylight and spatial openness. By relocating the courtyard upward, above the line of sight of nearby houses, the architects enable a new kind of domestic experience centered on openness, air, and sky. The third floor becomes the primary living domain, composed of a light-filled living room that opens directly onto the rooftop courtyard. The courtyard, in turn, becomes not just a spatial device but a living boundary between interior and exterior, structured absence and atmospheric presence. This elevated void also informs the project’s volumetric logic. Since the clients required only a modest floor area, the architects chose to dispense with the intermediate second floor, enabling a clearer division of functions. Communal and spatially expansive activities are raised above, while intimate, enclosed functions occupy the ground level. This unusual strategy reorients how verticality is deployed not as a stacking of programs but as a spatial gradient calibrated to privacy, light, and openness. Materiality, Light, and Spatial Atmosphere Constructed using a rigid wooden frame structure, the house maintains a calm and tactile material palette, allowing spatial relationships and natural light to define its atmosphere. The first floor, often overlooked in vertically stratified dwellings, benefits from a double-height volume due to the absence of the second floor. This inversion creates unexpected generosity in typically constrained spaces, such as the two workrooms facing each other across a slender internal courtyard planted with a Japanese dogwood tree. Light becomes the central agent of spatial modulation. Tall windows on the first-floor drawing in daylight, softening the compactness of the lower level and offering fluctuating lighting conditions throughout the day. Meanwhile, the upper courtyard receives unobstructed sunlight, casting dynamic shadows and amplifying the architectural strategy of turning upward for openness. The spatial sequence thus becomes non-linear, entering into lower, quiet rooms whose expanded vertical dimensions lend them dignity before ascending to a third-floor realm that opens horizontally to the sky. Rather than a classical hierarchy of levels, the house presents a compositional field of contrasts between enclosure and exposure, compression and release, and ground and air. Courtyard House Urban Context Tokyo’s residential neighborhoods are defined not only by density but also by a highly codified regulatory environment. Within the constraints of a Type 1 restricted low-rise residential zone, the architects worked with a site area of 169.78 m², achieving a floor area ratio of 77.87% and a building coverage of just under 50%. These constraints typically lead to compact, stacked dwellings. Yet the Courtyard House without Second Floor resists this default model, proposing a typological deviation that extracts architectural generosity from regulatory discipline instead. Courtyard House without Second Floor Plans Floor Plan | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Section | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Elevation | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Courtyard House without Second Floor Image Gallery About Takuro Yamamoto Architects Credits and Additional Notes Design Team: Takuro Yamamoto, Tomoko Yanagi Structural Design: NCN Corporation / Yuusuke Okamoto Construction: REMOL DESIGN / Hiroyuki Watanabe, Syuhei Watanabe Furniture: Tanaka Kogei / Toshiya Tanaka, Takeshi Minamizawa Structure: Wooden rigid frame Site Area: 169.78 m² Total Floor Area: 132.21 m² 1st Floor Area: 74.09 m² 3rd Floor Area: 58.12 m² Lot Percentage: 49.95% Floor Space Ratio: 77.87% #courtyard #house #without #second #floor