Homes Featuring Traditional Tea Rooms｜Custom-built homes by architecture firms5Picks｜A Residence Infused with Japanese Aesthetic Sensibility

The tea room (chashitsu) is a space in which the aesthetic sensibility of Japanese architecture is concentrated, and its design requires a refined sensitivity to materials, light, proportions, and subtle spatial presence. When incorporating a tea room into a contemporary dwelling, it is essential to respect traditional rituals and proportions while ensuring a natural and seamless connection to modern living. Design considerations rooted in the spirit of the tea ceremony are wide-ranging: the placement of the sunken hearth (ro), the arrangement of the tokonoma (alcove) and tokowaki (adjacent alcove), the presence or absence of a nijiriguchi (low entrance), the direction and quality of natural light, and the materials and finishes of walls and ceilings. Architectural practices carefully confirm the tea school's lineage and the intended use of the tea room while proposing spaces that quietly embed Japanese aesthetic sensibility within contemporary architecture.

A residence for a family of three—a couple in their thirties and their son. The design capitalizes on a wooded site with views of Mount Asama to the north, employing a spatial organization that integrates interior and exterior. Service areas (wet rooms) are arranged to face the south and a small inner courtyard to ensure a bright, well-ventilated environment. The Japanese-style room, intended to accommodate tea gatherings and overnight guests, is separated from the living/dining/kitchen area and located adjacent to the service zones. A second-floor study is conceived as a family space for enjoying the views, realizing a home that embraces life in close relationship with nature.

A prewar nagaya in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto was renovated into rental housing for families and the elderly. Surface layers were removed to reveal the characteristic machiya structure and the continuity between the tsubo-niwa and interior. The ground floor links two former tatami rooms into a central living space, integrating a mise-no-ma around the courtyard with a face-to-face kitchen. Flooring is 30 mm cedar planks; walls repaired with plaster and plywood; the ceiling exposes the second-floor rough decking. The second floor was repaired and received added insulation and a boat-bottom ceiling. Existing fittings were reused to the extent possible, respecting the grid plan.

This residence is sited in a valley in Kita‑Kamakura. Exploiting a 2.5 m level difference between the site and the street, the building uses a hybrid structural system with reinforced‑concrete construction for the basement and timber construction for the first and second floors. The entry sequence and alley‑like circulation are planned so that daily living is contained on the first floor. Interior features include a camphor‑wood dining table with an integrated induction cooktop, curvilinear walls blended with Kamakura rock and earth, a three‑tatami north‑facing tea room, and a music room in the basement. The exterior adopts the Japanese hip‑and‑gable roof form, while the interior incorporates stone paving and ironwork, drawing on the organic design language favored by A. Gaudí.

On an approximately 40-tsubo (≈132 m²) site within a quasi-fire-protection zone, this mixed-use building combines an authentic Omotesenke tea room with a two-family rental dwelling. The four-and-a-half-mat tea room and the mizuya (tea preparation room) are configured as an integrated space through operable partition walls. Finishes for the rental units were selected to preserve the material character while addressing functionality, durability, and cost-effectiveness of maintenance. Underfloor heating and a bathroom drying/heating system are provided as standard, and a seismic-damping structural system has been incorporated.

An offset skip‑floor residence arranged in half‑level increments to respond to the site's topographical variations. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal spatial relationships, together with a double‑height void, gently interconnect the family's living areas. A tea room is positioned on the ground floor as part of the entrance; built‑in bookshelves are provided on the living room wall; and a staircase establishes a circulation path to the roof.