Concrete Houses｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices15Picks Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department

In a concrete home, the raw texture and inherent presence of concrete shape the overall impression of the residence. While incorporating concrete into walls and ceilings creates poised and serene spaces, combining it with contrasting textures such as wood, fabric, or greenery adds a softening touch. Shadows cast by light on concrete surfaces and brightness shifting throughout the day are elements that enhance the allure of the material. The intersection of structural strength and quiet spaces designed to embrace daily routines gives concrete homes their unique expression. We introduce custom-built examples by architectural firms to demonstrate how the material texture of concrete is expressed architecturally in real homes.

Karuizawa Counterpoint PODA Architects

A villa built on a sloped site in Karuizawa, where an undulating concrete roof, stepped floors, and curved walls bring a time-based experience of strolling through the forest into the interior. Pursuing "freedom and the unpredictable," the house is designed so its interior cannot be easily anticipated from the exterior; the roof transforms along the approach into an arch that covers visitors and the roof over the parking area offers an immediate "mountain walk." The roof’s undulations are reflected in the ceiling, and terraced stepped floors and trunk-like curved walls with niches containing bookshelves, a kitchen, and a fireplace create varied behaviors and shifts in sightlines, allowing one to experience expansive views and a polyphonic landscape.

House in Higashiyukigaya Takayoshi Nakamura Architects & Associates

This tiny house stands on an approximately 9-tsubo site along the Nomigawa River and comprises four levels, including a basement, with a total floor area of 21 tsubo. Inheriting the client’s attachment to the land where their parents once lived, the project sought to create a home in which its compactness could be enjoyed. The stringent slant-line restrictions are addressed through skip floors divided according to function. Changes in level and a spiral staircase bring rich variation to the space, while the distinctive roof form creates a serene and dignified presence.

Shimizudani House ARCHIXXX Satoru Shinno Architectural Design

This urban residence is home to three generations: a grandfather, a married couple, and their two children. Band-like walls encircle the perimeter in a double-skin-like configuration, giving rhythm to the exterior while skillfully screening the interior from the gaze of passersby. Light spills through openings formed by diagonally cutting the corners, adding a soft expression to the otherwise potentially austere exterior. Two courtyards are provided inside, bringing gentle light into each room while promoting the natural circulation of air through the chimney effect.

ST2-Kyoto Masahiko Sawamura Architect and Associates

A courtyard house for audio that incorporates four internal courtyards

A Small House Making the Most of a Chamfered-Corner Lot | House at the Street Corner Yoshihiro Yamamoto Architects Associates

A small detached house located on a street corner in an urban area. In response to the site’s frontage on two roads, the building is arranged in a T-shape to create a triangular garden while securing privacy with slit windows. By arranging the living room and wet areas around the garden, the compact home achieves a sense of spaciousness and openness. Mortar is used for the floors and built-in kitchen, while the wood tones are carefully coordinated, creating a space where the richness of the materials coexists with minimalist beauty.

Garage House in Yashio Atelier Cotocoto

Built on a residential lot surrounded on three sides by neighboring houses, this home is for a family of five. With the theme of reconciling privacy and a sense of openness, the ground floor contains an exposed cast‑in‑place concrete hobby space equipped with a motorcycle garage, and the second floor contains a generous living/dining/kitchen (LDK) wrapped in the warmth of wood. A central spiral staircase connects the spaces volumetrically, and light streaming from the toplight spreads throughout the residence. Although the plan provides no openings toward the street, a bright and expansive living environment is achieved through the careful layering of materials and the deliberate treatment of light.

House in Koshien Abax Architects

Retaining the stone wall that embodies the memory of the town intact, this residence is constructed of reinforced concrete. Through two small courtyards it adroitly admits light and breezes while screening views from the exterior to ensure a high degree of privacy. By employing materials with a soft tactile quality, the dwelling composes calm, gentle interior spaces within a robust structural envelope.

PHASE DANCE Takeshi Hirobe Architects

This house stands on a densely wooded slope and seeks to coexist with a large Japanese stewartia. With the tree placed at the center, the composition is organized centripetally without being bound by symmetry, allowing the angles and volumes to be adjusted freely according to the requirements of each space. A timber frame is placed on an RC structural base, and the roof form changes continuously through the manipulation of the vertices of triangular structural planes. The two ends, narrowing from the central peak, connect to the first floor via a mezzanine and voids, creating a continuous sequence of scenes within the interior.

House in Ōhora Kota Goto Architectural Studio

A residence situated on a high point within a newly developed housing area. The project was prompted by the client’s desire to brew coffee and entertain guests in a museum-like environment. To capture panoramic mountain views to the north and south, the design organizes a tall, tubular primary volume and introduces changes in floor level to expand sightlines and generate spatial variation. The entry is enlivened by a top light whose illumination alters the space’s expression, and the wet areas are finished in white to evoke a sense of the extraordinary. The house offers a place to welcome guests while savoring quiet moments and abundant nature.

A Home Living with Plants Tatsumi Negishi Architectural Studio

This is a residence for which we assisted beginning with the site selection. The client had long working hours and wanted a timeless space for relaxing with plants in their leisure time. Making use of the site’s characteristics, the living room, a deck for enjoying wine and outdoor meals, and a garden of flowers and greenery were arranged as a continuous spatial sequence, blurring the boundaries. Interior and exterior are unified, creating a home in which plants are an integral part of daily life.

The Sunken Retreat Far East Design Lab.

Located in a quiet residential neighborhood in the city center, this house occupies a sloping site with an elevation change of approximately 5 m. Under the constrained conditions of being enclosed by adjacent buildings, the design secures residential floor area through a three-level configuration that includes a basement. A sequence of split-level living spaces and a stair atrium approximately 10 m in height are provided so that daylight from a skylight reaches down to the basement. The top floor is conceived as an open space connected to a garden and roof terrace; the contrast with the calm atmosphere of the basement creates a three-dimensional residence evoking a natural ravine.

next — RC house with a courtyard in Tsukuba City e do design architects

"next" — a second house designed to be enjoyed from age 60 onward, for the next chapter of life. As a place to let go of the businesses you have built up to now and move on to a new stage, we planned spaces that include a studio for creative activities and an area with theater functions, a spacious living-dining-kitchen where you can relax, and amenities such as a sauna and a training room. A residence that richly embraces work, hobbies, health, and daily life, enabling you to fully enjoy the time ahead. It is "next", brimming with excitement and opening a new door in life.

Fproject Naoko Matsumoto Architects & Associates

A mixed-use complex of a two-family residence and rental housing in reinforced concrete. By placing a courtyard within a deep lot, natural light and greenery reach the shared areas and the deep parts of the units, creating a pleasant urban environment. A stainless steel mesh stair and cast-concrete balcony parapets formed with cedar boards of varying profiles produce a façade rich in light-and-shadow. The plans, tailored to each household's lifestyle, keep the courtyard and garden close at hand and include amenities such as a tea room and an extensive workspace to nurture residents' hobbies and rich daily life.

Smallest Hirotaka Sato Architects

Smallest is a five-story urban compact house built on an extremely small site measuring 37.7 square meters, with a building footprint of 7.8 tsubo. The rooms are vertically stacked, while the stairwell and elevator are consolidated to make efficient use of the limited area. The fully glazed stairwell connects east- and west-facing sightlines, while the floating kitchen and counter reduce the sense of confinement. Exposed concrete and minimal detailing highlight the beauty of the materials and the sculptural form of the staircase.

Dwelling of Drummer JYU ARCHITECT

Satellite residence with an attached drum studio, planned on an 8 tsubo site. The semi‑basement reinforced‑concrete studio, though under six tatami in area, is a full‑scale soundproofed volume with a high ceiling; thick walls, floor and ceiling ensure performance that prevents even low‑frequency bass and vibration from transmitting to the exterior. The timber-framed residence on the upper floor incorporates borrowed greenery and open views, achieving a level of comfort that belies its roughly eight‑and‑a‑half tatami size. The stepped floor functions multipurpose as counters and seating, creating a variety of places to inhabit; at the same time those level changes contribute to sound diffusion and support a favorable acoustic environment. It is a dwelling in which music and daily life are concentrated within a limited space.