Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu

Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Perunggu in Arsitéktur Competition Category.

PerungguArsitéktur· 2026

Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan

by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu

Client: Not A Hotel

A' Design Award Perunggu Winner in Arsitéktur Category

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The Design

About Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan

Mio Path of Water nyaéta imah liburan anu dirancang pikeun iklim basisir anu remen hujan di Yakushima, Jepang. Tamu sumping ngaliwatan lawang anu ditutupan hateup teras ngaliwat émpér hujan anu garing ka bagian inti ruang tamu jeung ruang dahar anu nyanghareup ka laut. Tilu kamar suite nyabang jadi rohangan anu tenang, masing-masing dilengkepan kamar mandi pribadi, sangkan rombongan bisa babarengan ngeusian imah tanpa kaleungitan privasi. Aya ogé spa anu susunanana nuturkeun alur basajan ti sauna, kolam cai tiis, kamar mandi, nepi ka téras pikeun niiskeun awak. Strukturna ngagabungkeun waja jeung hateup kayu beurat anu diantepkeun katémbong, sarta lapisan luar tina kai cemara anu digeseng ngajaga fasadna.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Perunggu

Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan mangrupa juara A' Design Award Perunggu, pangakuan anu pohara bergengsi anu dipasihkeun ka desain unggul anu dicirikeun ku kréativitas, kacerdikan jeung kawaspadaan. Para juara Perunggu téh artéfak anu lobaan kaahlian jeung kréatif pisan anu ngabuktikeun pangalaman anu lega, imajinasi jeung kacerdasan para désainerna. Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan diharepkeun jadi objék anu dihargaan, dikagumi jeung dipikanyaah anu profésional jeung inovatif. Desain juara A' Design Award Perunggu ieu ngalebetkeun prakték pangalusna dina seni, élmu, desain jeung téknologi, sarta unggul dina perhatian kana détail. Mio Path of Water Imah Liburan minuhan kabutuhan kalayan éndah, nyentuh kahayang, nyenangkeun rasa, jeung narik rasa panasaran.

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.