Column
 Minimalist Design Residences
「ha」 hosaka hironobu architect associate
「ha」 hosaka hironobu architect associate

Minimalist Design Residences｜Custom-built homes by architecture firms7Picks｜A Richer Home Through Restraint

Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department
Minimal-design residences are not merely houses with fewer possessions; they arise from an architectural attitude that carefully selects every element to elicit the essential beauty of space. By eliminating superfluous ornament, a dwelling in which materials, light and space themselves communicate requires both exacting design precision and a deep understanding of materials. The architectural practice refines detail resolution, the material palette, and the composition of openings while concurrently developing plans that reliably satisfy everyday functional needs. The attention paid to what remains unseen inhabits the space as a quiet richness. We present examples of homes designed for living in calm, removed from the bustle of daily life.

Minimalist Design Residences

Residence in Moriguchi

In-Ex Design Co., Ltd.
Situated close to a shopping arcade, this is a “windowless house” built on a mere 19-tsubo hexagonal site. The building wraps around the full perimeter of the lot, creating a quiet interior world cut off from the street’s bustle. Exterior spaces are inserted at both ends of the two-storey volume, and living areas are arranged along the circulation that connects them. Without distinct room partitions, the spaces are loosely zoned by use and activity, accommodating the occupants’ flexible patterns of living. An inventive urban dwelling, it feels closed yet conveys a rich sense of spatial expansiveness.

3×10 Court house — House with a Courtyard in Tsuchiura

e do design architects
A residence for a family, built on a corner site in Minato-machi, Tsuchiura City, overlooking Lake Kasumigaura. Whereas many houses open to the south, this one deliberately opens broadly to the east, with an L-shaped configuration planned to capture light, breeze, and views. A courtyard is provided on the first floor, making the living/dining/kitchen (LDK) and the workspace pleasant places connected to planting and the sky. While experiencing the scenery of Lake Kasumigaura and the changing seasons, the home allows family time, work, and everyday life to naturally coexist.

House Behind the School Building

an Archi-Lab. First-Class Architect Office
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.

odmh

「ha」 hosaka hironobu architect associate
A minimal residence unified inside and out in a single “white” tone. The emblematic single-pane picture window boldly frames the landscape while blurring the boundary between architecture and the exterior. That translucent opening unsettles the perception of scale, creating depth and expansiveness that exceed the actual dimensions. Within a rigorously pared-back design, the dwelling acquires a distinctive character and presence. A singular minimal house in which stillness and tension coexist.

Moriguchi-Dainichi Residence

Coo Planning
This is a two-story timber house in Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture. Located at the end of a dead-end road, the site conditions prompted a plan that emphasizes privacy from surrounding sightlines. The exterior is a minimalist design with minimized openings, while a skylight above the double-height void brings natural light into a bright, open LDK. The project also incorporates attention to equipment and systems—24-hour ventilation and photovoltaic power generation among them—achieving both comfort and energy efficiency. The dwelling provides the functions and livability required of contemporary urban housing.

A Small House Composed of Three Connected Boxes (Large, Medium, Small) | Tsuzura House

Yoshihiro Yamamoto Architects Associates
A compact residence for a single occupant sited on a generous suburban plot. Primary functions—sleeping, dining, and working—are consolidated within a large open-plan space that is subtly subdivided by curtains to create flexible separations and efficient domestic circulation. Support functions—wet areas, storage, and a guest room—are articulated as a series of interlocking volumes of varying scale. The building is positioned centrally on the site to maintain a buffer from the surrounding context. Designed with high levels of airtightness and thermal insulation, the project proposes a new approach to suburban living.

House in Tateyama

Tada Architectural Design Office
This secondary residence is built within a Quasi‑National Park in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, for enjoying the sea and nature. Taking advantage of a fortunate setting with views to the horizon beyond a windbreak forest, the design adopts a disciplined composition with large openings oriented toward the sea and a restrained treatment on the side facing the neighboring house. A generous earthen‑floored space for fishing and a deep‑eaved engawa gently mediate between interior and exterior. Joinery allows flexible changes in the way spaces are used, and a distinctive roof structure gives the expansive interior its character. The pared‑down, minimal dwelling nurtures rich moments together with the sea breeze.