Tomoaki Uno Architects, following the client's wishes, decided to build the project out of wood. It was proposed that the entire ground floor should be made of piles, to use the area around the piles as a parking area, which would make it impossible to use point foundations.
After considering various structures and construction methods, the "Home Connectors" method was chosen as the construction method, which consists of rigidly connecting the pillars to the solid base using steel posts with special anchor bolts fixed with epoxy resin.
The upper building was then placed on the pillars, determining at the same time the dimensions and location of the columns. Irregular logs were used to construct the columns, shaping them on-site using traditional planers, turning these logs into regular 33 cm circular columns.
Terabe guest house by Tomoaki Uno Architects. Photograph by Nathanael Bennett.
Project description by Tomoaki Uno Architects
The recent health boom has increased the number of people who prefer to eat brown rice. However, due to its taste and texture, not many choose to eat it every day. There is a recipe for enzymatic brown rice that is a tasty and nutritious way to eat rice as part of the daily diet. The only ingredients are brown rice, azuki beans, and sun-dried salt, but the cooking process is quite time-consuming to prepare every day.
The owner of this company is the first person in Japan to have made it possible to cook brown rice in a rice cooker, just like white rice is cooked. She and her engineer partner managed to commercialize the product several years ago, and the company has been making steady progress ever since.
The land is located in front of Terabe Beach, near the center of Mikawa Bay. The land, with unobstructed views of Mikawa Bay, was previously the site of a beach house run by the owner's parents. The building had been refurbished to house a showroom and a food-tasting stand and was open to the public. However, it had become too cramped and did not fit the corporate image, so the decision was made to rebuild it. The company decided to renovate the existing showroom and allow tasting sessions.
As this was a tourist location with many bathers in the summer, they wanted a building that was calm and welcoming, and that made the most of the landscape. This required a bold proposal. Based on the client's wishes and the company's image, it was decided that the building would be built from wood. At the time, there was no real evidence of a construction method or structure, but it was proposed that the entire ground floor should be made of piles. When the clients saw this, they said they wanted to use the area around the piles as a parking area as well.
This would make it impossible to use point foundations. Attempts to calculate the marginal load-bearing capacity were inevitably rejected due to the large volume of the structure and the budget. After almost half a year of considering various structures and construction methods, the most modern construction method was arrived at, where the pillars are rigidly connected to the solid foundation using steel posts or “Home Connectors” (a rigid joining method using special anchor bolts fixed with epoxy resin), and then the upper building is placed on the pillars. After that, there was considerable effort to determine the most reasonable and beautiful dimensions, such as the pitch and thickness of the columns.
The irregular logs were worked into regular 33cm circular columns as our first task. The logs could have been cut by machine, but they were chosen to be shaped right there on site. They started by using traditional “yarikana” or spear planes, but then switched to using electric planes to speed up the process. Everything went according to plan, however, when the 32 logs were visualized, the work was dissatisfied. Having spent many years observing ancient temples and shrines, “Mukuri” was still something the architect longed for. After much work, the round pillars were placed in place making it possible for all of them to have that “Mukuri” quality.
After a brief moment of respite, the carpenters reported that it would be difficult to join the foundations and columns as previously planned. The method used was to rigidly join the foundations and columns with anchoring elements. Since they already had some experience with this method, they were a little hesitant about it. According to them, the anchors had to be placed with incomparably greater precision than had been needed in the past. After much thought instead of placing the anchors in the concrete, they first fixed them to the round columns and then placed them in the concrete foundations.
Here are some examples of changes made at the suggestion of the craftsmen:
One was a point about the strength of the stair landing. I thought that if the landing was fixed to the surrounding beams, there would be no problem. However, it was pointed out that this would be too weak. The final idea was to fix it to the beams on the second floor and pull it out, as shown in the picture. The other was the delivery of the balcony floor.
For the floor material, it was decided to use Australian cypress for weather resistance. However, it was pointed out that this wood was not dry enough and was likely to warp after installation, and that the floor was also not rigid enough. They suggested that each piece of flooring be supported by several horizontal round bars running across it. This would kill two birds with one stone, as they would hold each other together to prevent warping and also ensure rigidity. In this way, the craftsmen's experience and wisdom were used everywhere, increasing the degree of architectural perfection. It should be noted that most of these craftsmen's suggestions are used in invisible parts of the building. This is the essence of craftsmanship and I always admire it.
The reason the architect decided to accept the commission was because of the desire to prove to himself that he could do it. When working with construction companies, he often had to adapt to their circumstances and often ended up with unexplained compromises and problems. To solve this, as it turned out, the only option left was for the architect himself to become a building contractor. When he started, he decided to build as faithfully as possible to the plans, partly because he did not have a good team of craftsmen.
About 10 years after he started working as a contractor, he had a team of craftsmen and could ask them for opinions and work with them more than before. It was at that time that he discovered new joys and pleasures. It was not about following a plan, but about working with the craftsmen at that time to find the best possible result. From that moment on, he realized that the place was like a living organism, growing beyond imagination. That discovery and realization made him even more fascinated by architecture. Now, the beginning of a place is the beginning of a new design.
