*studioLOOP Architects
House of Wood｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices24Picks
Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department
In a wood home, timber is used across diverse locations—floors, walls, ceilings, and fixtures—where the material expressions shape the impression of the residence. Grain patterns, colors, and tactile textures reveal different expressions depending on light entry. In spaces revealing structures like columns and beams, the presence of wood becomes the scenery of the architecture itself. Conversely, combinations with furniture, windows, and outdoor plantings accentuate the softness of wood in other residences. Colors and textures evolving with time are elements that blend slowly into daily life. We introduce custom-built examples by architectural firms to explore how the theme of wood homes is expressed architecturally in real residences.
A small music hall planned on a site along the Hokusei Line of the Sangi Railway for a married couple of clarinetists. Located within the grounds of an existing residence, the design secures the maximum possible floor area while achieving a rare timber construction in Japan with a high sound-insulation performance of 50 dB. The acoustic environment was carefully refined to accommodate concerts and music lessons. As a place where people who love music gather to share beautiful tone, it functions as a space that richly connects daily life and culture.
A single-story home for a family of five, set on a spacious 500-square-meter site. Taking advantage of the rural landscape to the north, abstract images reminiscent of a museum by the water or one set within a forest have been translated into the architecture and landscape design. The east–west volume temporarily blocks the view, creating an extraordinary experience as the reflecting pool and landscape unfold the moment the entrance door is opened. With the LDK at its center, the rooms are arranged around it, while deep eaves and exposed structural beams guide light and air, shaping a calm lifestyle in harmony with nature.
On rebuilding a house that had been lived in for many years, we began the design by carefully inheriting the time and memories the family had accumulated. Valuing the materials and artisans’ craftsmanship that have sustained Japanese residential culture—roof tiles, tatami, plasterwork, shōji and fusuma—we have created a living environment that responds to contemporary lifestyles. The comfortable sense of scale provided by traditional Japanese proportions and the warmth of natural materials produce spaces that are gently accommodating to the body. This is a home oriented toward future living, where nostalgia and newness coexist calmly.
A residence sited in a longstanding residential neighborhood on the Chita Peninsula. The design gives form to the owner's wish for a living arrangement with a sunken kotatsu while valuing connections to the local community. By raising part of the living-room floor to create a sunken-kotatsu and offsetting southern sightlines from interior views, the scheme achieves both openness and privacy. The extensive use of solid cedar enriches the space as it matures. The house is designed to integrate gently with the surrounding streetscape and to grow alongside the local landscape.
This house in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture responds to an environment of surrounding factories, warehouses, and heavy traffic by adopting a closed composition toward the street. An internal courtyard brings in daylight and natural ventilation while maintaining separation from the exterior, creating a calm residential environment. By engaging with its context, the dwelling produces a rich, inward‑focused living realm.
This vacation home, built on the gentle slopes of Karuizawa, provides a place where family members across generations can gather. The building was arranged in a ku-shaped configuration to block views from the neighboring house while opening sightlines toward the woodland extending to the southeast. Within the approximately 30-tsubo space, the design creates an expansive sense of openness and views that shift depending on where one is situated. Antique stained glass is layered with the textures of solid-wood beams and brick tiles, weaving a timeless character into the home’s contemporary appearance.
This gut renovation transformed a 35-year-old two-room apartment with a dining-kitchen into a home for a family of four. By making three-dimensional use of the limited floor area and incorporating a raised tatami platform and loft, the design creates a spacious sense of volume. Sightlines extending all the way to the windows, a predominantly white interior, and an exposed-ceiling approach further enhance the feeling of openness. Another defining feature is the functional storage plan, which accommodates the household appliances within the kitchen counter, creating a home that supports everyday family life and naturally invites everyone to take part in cooking.
A combined clinic and residence for a physician specializing in sports medicine, planned on a site surrounded by the abundant nature of Awaji Island's east coast. While enjoying views of Osaka Bay and the green mountains, consideration was also given to the natural environment, including wind, insects, and damage from wildlife. The three volumes—the residence, the clinic, and the bath—are arranged at differing heights and connected by a linear 'engawa'. The 'engawa' functions not merely as a corridor but as a place to engage with nature. Operable mesh screens reconcile ventilation with insect protection, creating comfortable spaces in which to enjoy the landscape. The residence is intended to serve as a base for fostering new connections with the local community.
A residence for a family of four built on a narrow site in Osaka Sayama City. Set within an environment flanked on both sides by three-story houses, the project pursued a rich spatial experience while reconciling numerous programmatic requirements, such as a parking space, bicycle storage for each family member, private rooms, and a rooftop. The emblematic element is the cube-like double-height void created in the second-floor living room. By securing a two-story height, it achieves a sense of openness and expansiveness that transcends the limited floor area. This is a home in which structure and design have been refined and integrated.
This renovation restores a Taishō-period residence in Nara City. Faced with damage from water ingress and termite infestation, and given conditions that made rebuilding infeasible along with a desire to retain the machiya character, refurbishment was chosen. A compact living room is placed at the center, while seismic resistance and thermal insulation have been upgraded to contemporary standards. The plan adopts a nested configuration in which the core is wrapped by semi-outdoor spaces—such as the entrance, engawa (veranda), and a book repository—thereby preserving the machiya-like spatial quality in which interior and exterior are gently connected.
A rebuilding project for a two-generation residence in Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture. The site has very good views, but significant elevation differences within the site and with adjacent properties, and an aged cobble/river-stone retaining wall, made planning how to handle the grade differences a central concern.
This garage house is built on a sloping site in Sapporo. Rather than treating the site’s changes in level and applicable regulations as constraints, they were understood as conditions guiding the architecture, and the home was planned from a sectional perspective. A mixed structural system, with the basement level constructed in reinforced concrete and the first and second floors in timber, allows the garage, storage, and living spaces to be arranged rationally. The void and stairwell are connected continuously, bringing light from above down to the first floor. Large windows on the east side frame views of the sky and cityscape, while the textures of solid wood and Sakhalin fir add a warm, comfortable character.
Planned for comfortable living with two large dogs, this residence features a ramp that continues up to the rooftop. The dogs can move freely throughout the home without using stairs. While ramps typically require long circulation routes and extensive floor area, this house achieves a balance of spatial efficiency and cost by providing an adjacent, gentle staircase for human use. The design reconciles consideration for the dogs with architectural rationality. Furthermore, in addition to improving the seismic performance grade, a vibration-control (damping) structural system was adopted to prepare for repeated earthquakes, resulting in a home where occupants can live safely and with long-term peace of mind.
Set within a quiet villa enclave in Karuizawa, this residence was conceived for a retired couple and their cherished cat. Sited to embrace a richly natural environment—where the murmur of a stream and the whisper of trees are integral—the architecture is deliberately restrained in scale and expression so as not to dominate the landscape. The approach, which crosses a bridge en route to the entrance, functions as an intentional sequence of evolving views. Seasonal vistas framed by the windows and the subtle interplay of light and shadow impart a calm, poignant quality to daily life.
A home with a studio for a professional guitarist. Underground construction was avoided, while sound insulation was secured through a “box within a box” configuration, cellulose fiber, and vibration-isolating walls. Making use of the amount of wall on the first floor, the living functions were placed beneath a column-free, overarching roof on the second floor. In the powerful exposed structural frame, small openings, light from the skylights, and paths for the breeze create a rhythm of light and shade. A project that began with necessity has culminated in the primitive force of architecture.
Located in the hilly terrain of Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, this weekend house overlooks both the sea and the mountains. The building is set perpendicular to the axis extending from the sea toward the mountains, capturing views in both directions while gently connecting the interior and exterior through a semi-outdoor buffer zone. Operable louvers function as devices that adjust sunlight and views while freely modulating the sense of distance from nature. The changing interplay of light and shadow within the house creates the leisurely atmosphere of a weekend retreat.
A residence for a couple who love music and astronomical observation, sited on an alley-access lot surrounded by neighboring houses. A high-performance acoustically isolated room accommodating piano and trumpet was provided, planned so that the performance environment can be finely tuned using sound-absorbing panels. The overall architecture subtly incorporates a design motif based on the musical staff, reflecting their attachment to their hobbies within the space. On the second floor a balcony with expansive sky views was provided, creating an environment where astronomical observation can be enjoyed despite the urban location. A tatami-floored living room and a retro-modern interior compose a comfortable living environment.
This residence is situated within Kamakura’s verdant surroundings. The site lies at the end of a narrow lane in a tranquil location with mountain views extending to the north and south. To capture these natural vistas, large two‑story‑high windows are provided on the north and south elevations, allowing views of the garden and surrounding greenery from the first‑floor living/dining/kitchen (LDK) and the second‑floor bedroom connected via a double‑height void. On the street side, wooden lattice doors are installed and curtains provided internally, enabling layered control of privacy through the modulation of sightlines and daylight.
This residence, built on a sloping site overlooking the rich nature of the Akigawa Hills, is a home where everyday living and the outdoors gently blend. Centered on a lawned courtyard, the plan places the main house with a living–dining–kitchen (LDK) and a detached annex containing the wet areas and a garage, creating a composition that keeps nature close at hand. At the center of the space is a five-meter-long dining table with an integrated sink, creating a gathering place for family and friends. The deliberately understated interior leaves room for the occupants to intervene and nurture it themselves. It is a home where both the landscape and daily life mature over time.
This renovation of a traditional Japanese house re-edits the accumulated memories and layers of time inscribed in the site for contemporary life, while respecting their significance. New places to gather were created through the introduction of a void and a built-in sofa, while old fittings, furniture, window latticework, and other elements were skillfully regenerated. Existing light fixtures and fittings were also retained, connecting the history of the home to the future. In the space woven from new and old materials, the past, present, and future gently overlap, giving expression to the richness of a home that grows together with the family.
This two-story wooden house stands on an irregular, flag-shaped lot with a greenway extending along its southern side. Its Tudor-style exterior, inspired by the neighboring main house, creates a gentle sense of continuity within the streetscape. The primary living spaces are gathered on the second floor, where large timber windows opening toward the greenway bring light and greenery indoors. Exposed rafters following the sloped roof and varied ceiling heights create a sense of openness and warmth. The private rooms and wet areas are arranged on the first floor, while well-organized circulation and storage give the home a clear sense of rhythm and definition.
This is a two-bedroom, living-dining-kitchen (2LDK) residence built on a site elongated in the east–west direction. In addition to the bedroom, it provides a generous shoe closet, pantry, utility/housekeeping room, and study, securing spatial generosity beyond a mere layout. Site conditions include an east-side road, a west-side embankment/slope, and a northern diagonal-plane setback restriction, making the site planning and the relationship to the exterior particularly important. A courtyard is incorporated into part of the first floor, bringing light and a sense of spaciousness to the 24-tatami LDK. A looped circulation centered on the stair organizes movement, segmenting service and living zones while connecting them gently. The dwelling also addresses thermal insulation, energy efficiency, and seismic performance.
This approximately 40-tsubo residence is situated on a hill in a quiet residential neighborhood. To maximize the westward views, the living and dining area is located on the second floor, admitting abundant light and the landscape into the interior. Wood is used extensively in the interior finishes, creating a warm, tranquil atmosphere. The furniture, including the kitchen, was custom-made and carefully designed to integrate with the space. It is a home where the views and the materiality are in harmony, and a pleasant sense of time flows.
This is a private residence with an attached design atelier. Built on a site once familiar as a walking path, and intended to inherit the memory of a beach landscape cloaked in pine woods, its exterior walls are clad in thick timber. The timber is painted white to add softness, giving the house a presence that quietly blends into the surrounding environment. Internally, changes in floor and ceiling levels gently articulate the atelier, individual/private spaces, and shared areas. Lofts, a roof balcony, planted areas, and staircases create multi-layered spatial extensions between interior and exterior.
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