T-Architectural Studio

House of Wood｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices18Picks｜A Home Embracing the Warmth of Wood

Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department

Wood has long been cherished as a material for dwellings for its warm tactile qualities, scent, and the beautiful patina it develops over time. Even within the category of "wooden houses," expressions are diverse. The atmosphere created by wood varies greatly depending on its application — from interior finishes such as solid wood flooring and wooden joinery, to the expression of structural beauty through exposed beams and columns, to dynamic spatial compositions employing CLT (cross‑laminated timber) and large‑section timber members. Architectural firms design timber residences for long‑term, comfortable living by combining the client's desired expression of wood with technical considerations such as species selection, detailing, and connections. Explore these examples of homes where the inherent qualities of the material are quietly present.

House of Wood

House for Music and Astronomical Observation

Yu Architectural Design Studio

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.

Residence in Otsu

In-Ex Design Co., Ltd.

A compact dwelling for two located in the eastern part of Otsu City. Beginning from the simple requirement of an integral garage, a distinctive spatial solution was created by carefully interpreting the relationship with the surrounding environment. The plan is an 8.4‑meter square traversed along its diagonal, and a large roof combined with a double‑height void opens broadly to the southeast to admit light and breezes. The symmetrical plan and composed form shape a building that responds to the site context while retaining a steadfast presence.

House in Karuizawa

Kurashi no Jōzōsho

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.

moment

*studioLOOP Architects

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.

Allo Musica

Tada Architectural Design Office

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.

House of Twin Voids

Yosuke Tomiya Architectural Design Co., Ltd.

This three-story urban house is located in a densely built-up residential area near central Sapporo. On a site surrounded by neighboring buildings, the design seeks to balance privacy with natural light by placing the living, dining, and kitchen area on the third floor, which enjoys the best daylight. By carefully adjusting the orientation of the windows and extending views over the street, the house creates a sense of openness within the city. Serving as an outdoor space in place of a garden, the rooftop terrace provides a setting for enjoying the sky and the cityscape. Solid wood and a reinforced-concrete external insulation system support both tactile richness and a comfortable thermal environment.

House in Shimogamo

Echizen Design Laboratory

A residence that responds to the historic townscape of Kyoto’s Shimogamo while contemporarily reinterpreting the ambiguity and flexibility inherent in Japanese architecture. Through eaves, a through-earth-floored space, and wet-edge verandas, the house gently connects inside and outside, bringing changes in light, wind, and the seasons into everyday life. Its spacious, non-prescriptive configuration responds flexibly to the growth of its inhabitants and the passage of time. Rather than a completed vessel, the house is designed as a “place” that continually nurtures relationships among people, the environment, and everyday life.

House in Sayama

Coo Planning

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.

House in Toda

KASA ARCHITECTS

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.

House in Higashi-Ikoma II — Final Residence Overlooking a Rammed-Earth Wall

Tokuhiro Norimatsu Architect

Located at the end of a residential lane, this is a final residence built on a site with a 2.5‑meter change in elevation. Planned to engage with the memory of the site while evoking the former landscape, it faces Hōryū‑ji beyond the mountain ridgeline. A rammed‑earth wall, constructed using an ancient building method, gently screens views from the road and simultaneously forms a landscape to be seen from the living room. Wrapped in materials that deepen in character over time, it is a home where calm, unhurried moments will flow into the life to come.

Higashiura House

Kota Goto Architectural Studio

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.

A House Where Children and Adults Can Roam

kurachiffon Miki Takiuchi First-Class Architect’s Office

This detached-house renovation transforms a 30-year-old traditional Japanese-style home into a residence designed for a young family. While preserving the character of its earthen-walled Japanese-style rooms, traditional fittings, and transoms, the project introduces circulation that supports the daily routines of a working couple, along with ample storage. An enlarged entrance and a spatial composition connected three-dimensionally create an environment where the children can freely roam throughout the house and play to their hearts’ content. It is a home where tradition and playfulness harmonize to embrace the family’s growth.

A Home for Living with Cats

Tetsuya Kimura Architects

Located in a residential area near Osaka, this home is designed for a family of five and their two cats. Despite its compact site, surrounded by neighboring houses, the second-floor living room and pitched ceiling create a spacious, open interior. Clerestory windows bring in light and ventilation, while a variety of places allow residents to spend time as they wish while remaining aware of one another. The home also incorporates careful consideration for the cats’ lives, including a catwalk along the beams, cat flaps, and doors to prevent escapes. It is a warm home where people and cats can live comfortably together.

Slope House Designed for Two Large Dogs

JYU ARCHITECT

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.

Kamakura Plus

Far East Design Lab.

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.

Mikuri House

Yoshihiro Ito Architect & Associates

Set in a quiet residential neighborhood, this home takes advantage of the seasonal greenery spreading across the grounds of a nearby shrine as borrowed scenery. Expansive, ceiling-height openings on the north and south sides bring the rich landscape and natural light into the interior. By allocating the limited budget appropriately and providing deep eaves and places open to the outdoors, the design enables a spacious way of living even within a small home. Wooden fittings and shoji screens create a soft light and lend the house a beautiful presence even when it is closed to the outside.

House of the Cherry Blossom Keeper

Kumi Inoue Architects

This residence stands on a site facing Sakuramori Park with views toward Mount Rokko. It was planned with the theme of incorporating both the park view and the uninterrupted sightline to the mountain into daily life. Interpreting the constraints of the northern oblique-plane restriction, the composition places the park-facing side lower and the mountain-facing side higher. Three diagonal walls skillfully channel wind and daylight, generating a comfortable airflow throughout the home via double-height voids and staircases. Large windows opening onto the park and apertures that frame Mount Rokko bring the rich landscape into the interior, realizing an expansive living environment that coexists with nature.

A House Living in Harmony with Wood

Ringo Studio, First-Class Architect's Office

A residence situated in the scenic conservation district of Ōmiya, connected to tranquil nature. Under a site‑coverage limit of 40%, a simple square planimetric and volumetric composition was employed to create a generous spatial extent. Openings boldly capture the light and breezes passing through the private road to the south and borrow the landscape of the neighboring house. Internally, a skip floor with a 1.5‑storey intermediate level secures floor area and openly links the spaces of differing heights. The spaces, finished in locally sourced Nishikawa cedar, form a beautiful building—underpinned by classical methods—where exterior and interior comfortably meld.