Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award de Bronce in Diseño de Arquitectura, Edificación y Estructuras Competition Category.
BronceArquitectura· 2026
Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones
by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu
Client: Not A Hotel
A' Design Award de Bronce Winner in Arquitectura Category
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The Design
About Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones
Mio Path of Water es una casa de vacaciones diseñada para el clima costero y lluvioso de Yakushima, Japón. Los huéspedes llegan bajo un acceso cubierto y atraviesan un porche seco de resguardo de la lluvia hasta llegar al núcleo de estar y comedor, orientado hacia el océano. Tres suites se ramifican como habitaciones tranquilas, cada una con baño privado, de modo que los grupos pueden compartir la casa sin perder intimidad. El spa sigue un recorrido sencillo de sauna, baño de inmersión frío, bañera y terraza de enfriamiento. La estructura combina el acero con una cubierta de madera maciza vista, y un revestimiento de cedro carbonizado protege la fachada.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award de Bronce
Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones ha ganado el A' Design Award de Bronce, un reconocimiento sumamente prestigioso concedido a diseños sobresalientes que se distinguen por su creatividad, ingenio y astucia. Los ganadores de Bronce son artefactos ampliamente hábiles y sorprendentemente creativos que acreditan la vasta experiencia, imaginación e ingeniosidad de sus diseñadores. Se espera que Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones sea un objeto muy apreciado, admirado y querido, notablemente profesional e innovador. Este diseño ganador del A' Design Award de Bronce incorpora las mejores prácticas del arte, la ciencia, el diseño y la tecnología, y es excelente por su atención al detalle. Mio Path of Water Casa de vacaciones satisface espléndidamente las necesidades, toca los deseos, encanta los sentimientos y atrae la curiosidad.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The project is on Yakushima’s maritime edge, where mist, downpour, and slow runoff are daily facts, the house is organized from the rooms outward. Each suite is a calibrated “channel” of water-as-experience: the shared areas stay quiet and supportive. Only after these three acts are set does the living space frame its context: sea at distance, pool nearby—two waters held on one calm line. The primary structure material of the house is steel—precise, slender, and resilient—so the rooms read cleanly. Only the living space departs from that language: here an exposed heavy-timber roof lifts the volume and warms it. The result is a house that makes weather into ambience, routine, and memory.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Height 9000 mm; Total floor area 298 sqm; construction area (incl. terraces) 586 sqm. Program: L/D, kitchen; 3 bedrooms each with 2× semi-double beds 1,200×1,950 mm + ensuite WC & shower. Spa: changing, sauna, cold plunge, bath, shower + adjacent cooling terrace. Pool depth 1,200 mm. Covered parking 2 bays. Outdoor equipment storage shed 70 sqm.
- Tags
- Yakushima, hospitality villa, wet-climate design, rain porch, sauna loop, indoor-outdoor living, charred cedar façade, ocean-view courtyard, modular arcade, minimalist timber architecture
- Production Technology
- Designed through iterative massing + view studies in Rhino/Grasshopper, then coordinated for constructability and lifecycle cost. Adaptive-reuse strategy uses hybrid structure system of steel and heavy timber to maximize constructability. Facade system: Shou Sugi Ban (Yakisugi) cedar cladding rainscreen + low-iron glazed wall with concealed frames; modular standing seam metal roof for tolerance control. CG/diagrams produced via real-time rendering + AI/PS post-compositing.
- Design Challenge
- The hardest challenge was reconciling Yakushima’s extreme rain, salt wind, and humidity with an open, resort-like lifestyle without turning the house into a sealed “box.” Internally, the concept had to respect local craft traditions while still feeling contemporary. Externally, strict competition limits (height, area, parking, pool/spa program) forced tight stacking and efficient circulation. Limited site-specific data pushed us to validate decisions through climate mapping, precedent benchmarking, and repeated plan/section tests until performance and experience aligned.
- Research
- Applied site-response study. Objective: Yakushima villa for rain/humidity, privacy, ocean views. Method: fast plan/section iterations + guest-flow loop tests. Data/tools: climate/topo maps, precedents; Rhino/Grasshopper, AI implemented representation, render checks. Participants: designer + peer critiques. Result: rain-porch entry, bedroom pods, sauna-plunge-bath loop. Insight/impact: fewer conflicts, higher comfort; reusable wet-climate layout template.
- Inspiration
- "Mio" is a shallow water channel in Japanese: not a scene, a guide. The project adopts that ethic—draw clear paths and let climate do the rest. What Mio proposes is to let private rooms carry climate as character—morning mist, sudden shower, still flow—while a single timbered hall reads the site without theatrics. The result is a house that makes weather into ambience, routine, and memory.
- Project Duration
- The project was a design package for initiated in September 2025 and completed in February 2026 as a hospitality villa proposal for Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, and subsequently prepared for submission to the A’ Design Award.
- Operation Flow
- Guests arrive under the covered "porte-cochère" and enter a dry “rain porch” that transitions into the living/dining core facing the ocean. Bedrooms branch off like quiet nests, each with a private bath, so groups can share without stepping on each other’s rhythm. The spa is a simple loop: change - sauna - cold plunge - hot bath/shower - cool-down terrace, repeating as needed. Indoor and outdoor spaces slide into one another, letting the house work in sun, wind, and rain with minimal effort.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu, Jiahua Xu, 2026.
No patents filed.
No trademarks registered. - Team Members
- Ke Chen
Mengxi Xu
Jiahua Xu - Image Credits
- Image #1: Creator (Design Team Lead) Jiahua Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #2: Creator (Design Team Lead) Jiahua Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #3: Creator (Design Team) Ke Chen, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #4: Creator (Design Team) Mengxi Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #5: Creator (Design Team) Mengxi Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
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