Concrete House With Raw Beauty And An Eye For Fashion

By Simona Ganea | Published on Jan 16, 2015

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Concrete House With Raw Beauty And An Eye For Fashion

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Completed in 2014, the renovation of this 40-year old house forced the architects of Airhouse Design Office to think a bit out of the box. The house is located in Jiyugaoka, Japan and features raw concrete surfaces. Polished concrete defines some areas while others were left in their original state, with chipped edges and corners for an authentic look.

The largest area of the house is an open plan that includes the living room, the kitchen and a small dining space on the side. The kitchen features concrete worktops and ow-hanging black pendants above the island.

The overall design has that unfinished look that the client asked for. The raw concrete walls, ceiling and floors contrast with the modern appliances but, at the same time, were used to conceal most of these features.

There are no wall-mounted cabinets or shelves in the kitchen. All the storage is squeezed into the lower cabinetry and this allowed the walls to stand out even more.

A small dining space with a simple rectangular table and four chairs is situated in the continuation of the kitchen island. A small metallic pendant lights provides a bit of contrast but also maintains the overall industrial look intact. The chairs warm up the space a bit with their exposed wooden frame.

The rest of the open floor plan is austere and not as inviting as you’d expect it to be. A long desk was installed along the wall, in front of the windows and built around the column.

At the far end of the room you can see the entrance to the corridor. Behind a high partition there’s a raised sleeping area. It opens out to a large balcony and is barely noticeable.

From up here one can keep an eye on the rest of the open plan. The sleeping area is as simple as it can be, with nothing but a comfy mattress and some accent lighting.

The corridor we mentioned is the most interesting part of the house. The whole renovation was a project designed for a fashion lover so the architects envisioned this space as having a double function. It also serves as a walk-in wardrobe.

Glass screens let the owner display her clothes from ceiling-mounted rails. There’s a special closet for shoes as well as a mannequin for displaying complete outfits.

The bathroom is quite interesting as well. Both the tub and the shower are set into a bare concrete platform. The ceiling was left untouched and a glass partition was added between the shower the tub area.

A concrete countertop supports the washbasin and a large mirror is mounted on the wall. The whole design is austere but not uninviting.

When redesigning this 114 square meter house, the architects created a series of angular partitions and so this meant the house would feature irregularly-shaped rooms. This gives it a special aura and together with the other custom details makes it a one-of-a-kind type of home. The team completely re- imagined the conventional concepts and came up with an out-of-the-box design.