Forever Home｜Custom-built homes by architecture firms7Picks｜Housing for Enriching the Later Stages of Life

The essence of designing a “final residence” is to carefully plan homes that allow people to continue living safely and true to themselves in the later stages of life. This requires a design perspective that balances comfort and safety: flat, step-free circulation; corridor and opening widths that accommodate wheelchairs and walking aids; wall substrate reinforcement to anticipate future handrail installation; safe fittings and layouts for bathrooms and toilets; and flexible floor plans that can adapt to changing needs over time. Equally important are the tactile warmth of durable materials, an abundance of natural light, and beautiful interiors that surround residents with objects they love. The architectural practice carefully calibrates both functional measures and aesthetic qualities to propose homes that support a rich and secure later life.

This is the final residence for a couple who have finished raising their children. On the second floor, which serves as the heart of daily life, the living and dining areas are arranged to frame a southeast-facing terrace. The semi-outdoor terrace, created by openings in the roof and walls, screens views from the surroundings while admitting light and natural ventilation, providing a place where the changing seasons can be felt up close. Changes in floor levels beginning at the music room on the first floor, the double-height void, and the observation terrace give the spaces a rich sense of depth, allowing residents to enjoy the continuity and variety characteristic of a three-story timber structure.

This residence is intended as the couple’s final home, for a pair who relocated from Tokyo to an area near the wife’s parents’ home. Centered on a courtyard that preserves privacy while allowing a direct sense of nature, performance aspects such as daylighting, natural ventilation, seismic resistance, and thermal insulation were carefully planned. The courtyard connects to the living, dining, and kitchen (LDK) and to the animals’ spaces, richly embracing the passage of the seasons and family time. It is a home like a 'nest', wrapped in safety and comfort, accommodating life with a parrot and an owl and attentive to future home-based work.

This is a final residence for a married couple located in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture. The approximately 60-year-old family home was renovated, preserving the dignified presence of the beautiful tiled roof while achieving a comfortable living environment adapted to the local climate. The south-facing hiroen (wide veranda) was reconfigured into a doma (earthen-floored) space, creating an expansive dwelling that admits seasonal breezes and natural light. With an eye to the future possibility of opening a small restaurant, a lane-like approach and a guest room were planned. The plan is arranged as a one-room-like composition that allows continuous circulation from the LDK (living/dining/kitchen) to the bedroom and wet areas, delivering a comfortable, tranquil living environment with minimal temperature differentials.

A small house planned in a tranquil village, commissioned with the client’s request to reproduce the living conditions of public housing (danchi). The dining kitchen connects directly to the entrance; a multipurpose Japanese-style room adjoins without a separating corridor; the wet areas are extremely compact (the client specified a two-tub washing machine); and ceiling heights match those of danchi. Working within a stringent budget, the plan was pared back to danchi-level compactness and material and equipment costs were minimized by using structural members as finish elements, resulting in a garage house with a ground-floor garage and a second-floor danchi-style living unit.

An urban residence located in Fukushima Ward, Osaka City. With a narrow street frontage and being surrounded on three sides by high-rise buildings, the site presented a severe environment, so a home equipped with a residential elevator was planned as a "final dwelling." The project initially began as a renovation study but was converted to new construction due to issues with the certificate of inspection/completion. KMEW's Solido was adopted for the exterior walls, placing emphasis on a materiality that can be enjoyed as it ages. Phosphate-treated steel plates were used for the balcony copings and the eave-edge trim, achieving a consistent, urban exterior down to the details.

This is a reconstruction plan of the long-occupied family home so that a mother and her daughter can live there. Under the severe condition of a narrow 19-tsubo site with an elementary school building pressing on the south side, a small garden and a nure-en (verandah) were provided on the southern side of the site to bring light, wind, and a sense of depth into the residence. Internally, multiple living areas were arranged according to degrees of privacy and openness, realizing a composition in which light moves throughout the entire house. While engaging carefully with the surrounding environment, the design cultivates a rich residential quality within a limited footprint. The phrase "a house you want to come home to" testifies to that comfort.

On a site overlooking a beautiful mountain range to the north, this is the final residence for a married couple. The project was planned to inherit materials and landscapes that have accumulated over a long period—such as a relocated early-Showa-period kominka (traditional farmhouse), a weeping cherry, susutake (smoke-darkened bamboo), and Taisho-period stained glass. Traditional materials—roof tiles, stone, earthen walls, lime plaster (shikkui), and solid timber—have been carefully reconstituted using contemporary craftsmanship. Balancing respect for history with a comfortable living environment for the future, it is a dwelling intended for living peacefully while sustaining the continuity of time.