Murakoshi Huis by Hiroki Watanabe is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award in Zilver in Architectuur, Gebouwen en Constructieontwerp Competition Category.

ZilverArchitectuur· 2023

Murakoshi Huis

by Hiroki Watanabe

Client: S Design Farm

A' Design Award in Zilver Winner in Architectuur Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #147063

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The Design

About Murakoshi Huis

Een stedelijk huis dat overstromingen integreert in zijn ontwerp. Dit huis met een monolithische gevel en een doorrijgarage met een hoge fundering ligt op een vijfhoekig hoekperceel dat naar verwachting druk zal worden bezocht door voetgangers. Het ontwerp heeft een vlakke en doorsnede-openheid om licht en wind naar binnen te laten stromen en tegelijkertijd rekening te houden met het gemak van mensen en auto's en water af te buigen. Dit werk verkent een eenvoudige en verstandige benadering van toekomstige stedelijke huisvesting met een focus op natuurrampen.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Zilver

Murakoshi Huis is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Zilver, een buitengewoon prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan topontwerpen die prachtig en indrukwekkend zijn. Winnaars in Zilver zijn enorm briljante en uiterst creatieve werken die de uitmuntende expertise, het talent en de scherpzinnigheid van hun ontwerpers illustreren. Murakoshi Huis wordt verwacht een prachtig paradepaardje te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en diepgaand innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Zilver heeft gewonnen, is een hoogst opmerkelijke, bewonderde uitvinding die baat en de grenzen van kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie verlegt. Murakoshi Huis is een zeer benijde creatie die verlangens oproept, positieve gevoelens brengt en verbazing en verwondering doet ontvlammen.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: An urban house integrating flood waters into its design.
The house, with its drive-through garage using a high foundation and monolithic facade that takes into account sight lines and sound, was designed to achieve safety and comfort for the client while creating a duality of open public and introverted private living spaces that maintain an appropriate sense of distance from the surrounding environment. This work explores a simple, yet make sense, future urban housing with an eye toward natural disasters.
Dimensions & Packaging: The building use is a private residence for a couple.
The construction type is new construction. The structure is wooden, two stories above ground with a high foundation and a loft. The site area is 73.92m2 and the total floor area is 81.73m2.
Tags: House, Urban, Flood waters, High foundation, Openness, Safety
Production Technology: In order to maximize the building-to-land ratio, a pentagonal plan configuration was chosen to match the site shape, and the cross-sectional configuration of the second floor and loft was selected in consideration of height restrictions, fire prevention regulations, and structural planning.
To minimize the impact on the building in the event of flooding, the first floor was planned with a high foundation.
The space was designed to make the most of the site conditions.
Design Challenge: The Murakoshi House faced the challenge of how to create a safe and comfortable place to live, given its low elevation, the risk of flooding due to its location in a valley, and the dense surrounding area. Considering the effects of recent climate change and rising electricity costs, the key point was how to create comfort, and architectural innovations and facilities were planned to withstand these factors.
Research: In order to reduce running costs and the burden on the global environment, the insulation performance was set to a high level (insulation grade 6), and a level of almost no heating was implemented even in winter by minimizing the number of windows, using a Ua value of 0.37, using heat exchange ductless ventilation, and thorough air sealing measures.
Inspiration: Safety and Comfort from Openness.
The site is a pentagonal shaped site facing a three-way street with a lot of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and adjacent to a waterway that was predicted to flood, making it a complex intersection of various elements. Therefore, we created a three-dimensional openness to the elements of light, wind, people, cars, and water that surround the site, allowing light and wind to flow into the interior and creating an architecture that dodges water while considering convenience for people and cars.
Project Duration: The design period for the Murakoshi House is six months, from November 2020 to April 2021. The construction period is seven months, from May 2021 to December 2021.

The planned site is located in Ota Ward, Tokyo, Japan. It is located on the bottom of a mortar-shaped valley that stretches to the south of Senzoku Ike Pond.
Operation Flow: Murakoshi House faced the challenge of how to create a safe and comfortable place to live, given its low elevation, the risk of flooding in the valley, and the densely populated surrounding area. In addition, taking into consideration the effects of recent climate change and rising electricity costs, the key point was how to create comfort, and architectural innovations and facilities were planned to withstand these factors.
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Yasutaka Kojima, Variations, 2022.
Image #2: Photographer Koichi Torimura, Variations, 2022.
Image #3: Photographer Yasutaka Kojima, Variations, 2022.
Image #4: Photographer Yasutaka Kojima, Variations, 2022.
Image #5: Photographer Koichi Torimura, Variations, 2022.