House with a Doma｜Custom-built homes by architecture firms9Picks｜A Living Space Bridging Interior and Exterior

The doma, once widely found in traditional Japanese houses, is being reappraised in contemporary dwellings for a variety of uses. Functioning as an intermediate zone between outdoors and indoors, the doma can fulfill many roles depending on lifestyle: storage for outdoor gear, parking for bicycles and motorcycles, a workspace for agricultural tasks or carpentry, a play area for children, or a semi-exterior reception space for welcoming guests. Designing a doma involves reconciling usability and comfort—providing connections to the interior suitable for barefoot use, selecting floor finishes that are easy to clean, and ensuring adequate daylighting and natural ventilation. This text introduces doma spaces that suit modern living while organizing their uses and household circulation.

A residence punctuated with a variety of interior and exterior nooks and gardens of different scales. While occupants can choose comfortable spots according to season or mood, the spatial arrangement is designed to allow a gentle awareness of family presence. Connection to nature through sightlines, sound, and scent, together with a calibrated sense of proximity that permits drawing near or stepping back, creates the richness of this house. Precisely because contemporary mobility has made the locations of daily life more flexible, the project pursues an environment in which one can live authentically while remaining aware of family and the surrounding landscape. The generous spaces make the home fitting of the affectionate nickname “Zou no Ie” ("Elephant House") given by the daughter.

“The initial meeting” imagined a family with a six‑month‑old boy, and a home was created to grow together with the child. A through doma that connects the entrance and parking area indoors continues on to the laundry, washbasin/vanity, and bath, while two gardens of differing character—a south garden and a courtyard—bring depth and dynamism to daily life. It is a compactly spreading home that feels close to the outdoors.

This residence, sited adjacent to a park in the city center, articulates a distinctive spatial composition through a triangular floor plan. It gently screens external sightlines while maintaining an open spatial character. An integrated rental space reconciles the need for privacy with a calibrated openness to the public realm. Internally, the program is compact and efficiently arranged, with streamlined circulation that connects the spaces without wasted movement.

A compact residence with a total floor area of approximately 22 tsubo, built on a hill overlooking the sea at Futtsu. The interior is configured like a studio with minimal partitioning, creating a generous sense of openness within a limited footprint. From the LDK (living-dining-kitchen) one can take in a sweeping view of Tokyo Bay, and the bathroom offers the luxurious prospect of Mount Fuji. A doma kitchen integrated with the entrance provides a light, direct circulation and immediate access to the garden. A small home for enjoying rich moments where sea and sky, landscape and daily life are gently connected.

A small live-work dwelling that nestles against the lush greenery of the Tamagawa Josui. While screening views from the heavily trafficked greenway, it aims to create a space that still retains a connection to nature. A high‑ceilinged, open‑plan studio is organized with three floor levels of varying heights; the split‑level arrangement gently delineates work and living zones. Through an inner courtyard that controls sightlines, the interior opens views toward the greenery along the Tamagawa Josui. Within a compact total floor area of 45 m², this residence demonstrates a new possibility that reconciles a sense of spaciousness and comfort.

This residence is a renovated 50-year-old house reborn as a private house for richly enjoying time alone. Making use of light pouring in from a skylight, the first floor is laid out as a one-room space centered on a doma (earth-floored zone). The living room, work space, kitchen, and bathroom are loosely connected, creating a deep, open spatial composition. On the second floor a training space reminiscent of a dance studio has been provided, with design features throughout to enable daily physical activity. It is a quiet retreat for restoring body and mind while enjoying time that is true to oneself.

This residence finds new value in circulation spaces such as corridors and staircases. At the center of the house is an atrium-like inner garden ('uchi-niwa') into which light pours from a skylight. While serving the functions of the entry and the stair circulation, it is conceived as an interior garden where plants can actually be grown. Concrete-finished floors and a spatial arrangement that blurs inside and outside create an environment that brings nature close at hand. Rather than merely lining up private rooms, the design gently links them through generous shared spaces, fostering a sense of family presence and continuity of daily life.

This is a two-family residence that replaced two long-inhabited houses. Making use of the site at the end of a T-intersection, the opening strategy that allows sightlines to pass above the roadway and a large window guided by a curved wall compose a space in which the streetscape and sky naturally expand into view, aiming to create an urban dwelling that nevertheless feels open. The building is arranged in an L-shape to deliver soft natural light to many rooms, and with dog-friendly circulation and a second-floor LDK with a built-in bench, a living environment is realized in which home, work, and the neighborhood are connected calmly.

Located in an urban area of western Saitama Prefecture, this project replaces a long-held family property with a two-family (two-generation) dwelling. The existing garden, with its mature trees, constitutes a valuable remnant of greenery within the block; the design carefully addresses both the preservation of this garden and the spatial relationship between households. Retaining the wisteria pergola, the scheme provides a single shared entrance while otherwise fully separating the two households, and includes two built-in garages. The entrance and garages are located on the west-facing street, and a central hall distributes access to each unit. Each household is organized around a living room that opens onto the garden and takes advantage of the roof slope to define the interior volume. The exterior is expressed as a large mono-pitched roof, with eaves and ceilings finished in solid Nishikawa-sourced hinoki (Japanese cypress) boards.