T-Square Design Associates

この住宅は幹線道路から住宅街へ入る道の北東角に建つ。家族構成は３人。更に１階には店舗スペースを設けた店舗併用住宅である。街に対して開く部分（店舗）と閉じる部分（車中心社会の幹線道路沿いの住居という意味で）が共存する建築という意味では、街との関係性を意識したプロジェクトであった。加えて駐車スペースも３台分確保する必要があったが、幹線道路沿いに駐車スペースを設けると、手前に駐車場、奥に無意味な開口部付きの建物という、いかにもな（どこでも見られるような）景観が生まれてしまう。そこで駐車スペースを外から出来るだけ見えない敷地の奥に設け、道路沿いに建物ヴォリュームを配することで駐車スペースの存在を消した。次に開きたい部分を幹線道路沿いに、それ以外を他へ持って行くことで、「開く」と「閉じる」を視覚的に意識した壁面操作を行った。店舗という性格上、幹線道路沿いから見て、家としての生活感を消す必要もあった。また宇都宮ということで、街を歩けば大谷石を使った外壁や塀を多く見かける。その存在感は半端なく、流石大谷石といったところだが、ある意味それが返って悪目立ちしているようにも感じた。つまり栃木＝大谷石という安直な発想が見え隠れする。また大谷石は外壁材として使うには非常に高価でもある。それなら出来るだけ安価な材料で高価な素材（つまり石と対極にある材料）に負けない存在感を放つものはないか。つまり、どこにでもある建築材料を建築素材に昇華させることで、大谷石に負けない存在感を放つ方法である。その結果、工業製品であるメーカーの普通の外壁サイディング材にガルバリウム鋼板で作った水切りをランダムに挟むことで外壁に動きを出し、大谷石積みの壁に匹敵する表情を生み出したいと考えた。雪が降れば、水切り一枚一枚に雪が積もり（宇都宮は、それほど雪は降らないらしいが）、それ以外の季節は、移り変わる太陽角によって水切りが落とす影が変化し、季節ごとに、また時間ごとに違う表情を見せてくれるファサードとなった。幹線道路沿いの店舗という意味（建物が目立つ）でも、この外壁の表現方法は、設計当初からかなり意識していた為、上手くいったのではないかと思っている。

写真：楠瀬友将

This residence is built at the northeast corner of the road in a residential area. The family composition consists of three members. Additionally, it is a mixed-use residence with retail space located on the first floor. The design of the architecture was decided by reflecting its relationship with the city, as it balances an open part (the store) with a closed part (a residence along a main road characterized by a car-centric society). Furthermore, by the owner’s request, it was necessary to secure parking space for three cars, but placing the parking along the main road would create a typical landscape with a parking lot in front and a building with meaningless openings behind it. Therefore, the parking space was set at the back of the site, making it as invisible as possible from the outside, while distributing the building volume along the road to obscure the parking space. The areas intended to be open were placed along the main road, with everything else pushed to other locations, creating a visual manipulation of walls that consciously addressed the concepts of 'opening' and 'closing.' Due to the nature of the store, there was also a need to eliminate any sense of residential life from the view along the main road. Additionally, in Utsunomiya, one can frequently see facades and walls made of Ohya stone while walking around the city. Its presence is overwhelming, living up to the reputation of Ohya stone, but in a sense, it can also feel like it stands out too much. This reflects an overly simple notion of Tochigi equating to Ohya stone. Furthermore, Ohya stone is very expensive when used as exterior wall material. So, we considered if there was something that could convey a sense of presence that could rival such an expensive material using as inexpensive a material as possible (essentially materials that are the opposite of stone). Thus, the method involves elevating commonly available building materials to architectural elements, allowing them to emit a presence that is competitive with Ohya stone. As a result, we envisioned using ordinary exterior siding materials from manufacturers, incorporating randomly placed L angle blades made from Galvalume steel to add movement to the facade, creating expressions comparable to walls made of Ohya stone. When snow falls, snow accumulates on each blades (although it seems that Utsunomiya does not receive much snow), and in other seasons, the shadows cast by the blades change with the shifting angle of the sun, producing different expressions throughout the seasons and times of day in the facade. In terms of the store along the main road (where the building stands out), we believe this expression of the exterior wall was something we had been quite conscious of since the initial design phase, which we think contributed to its success.

Photo：Tomoyuki Kusunose