House In Mise Nyumba by Tomomi Omachi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Tuzo ya Shaba ya A' Design Award in Usanifu wa Majengo, Ujenzi na Miundo Competition Category.

ShabaUsanifu wa Majengo· 2026

House In Mise Nyumba

by Tomomi Omachi

Tuzo ya Shaba ya A' Design Award Winner in Usanifu wa Majengo Category

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The Design

About House In Mise Nyumba

House In Mise ni ukarabati wa makazi ya kimapokeo ya mashambani ya Kijapani yaliyopo katika bonde la mto huko Mitsuse, Mkoa wa Saga. Mradi huu unarejesha uwazi wa kianga wa muundo asilia wa mbao huku ukiunganisha tena maisha ya kila siku na msitu unaozunguka pamoja na maji yanayotiririka. Matundu yaliyowekwa kwa umakini, vishubaka virefu vya paa, na nafasi za mpito zenye tabaka huruhusu mwanga, kivuli, na mabadiliko ya misimu kuunda mazingira ya ndani. Vifaa vilivyopatikana kienyeji vikiwemo mierezi, msonobari wa hinoki, matete, granaiti, na shoji zilizotengenezwa kwa mikono vinaimarisha ulinganifu na hali ya hewa pamoja na uhalisia wa vifaa.

The Recognition

About the Tuzo ya Shaba ya A' Design Award

House In Mise Nyumba ni mshindi wa Tuzo ya Shaba ya A' Design Award, utambuzi wenye heshima kubwa unaotolewa kwa miundo bora inayotofautishwa kwa ubunifu, ustadi na busara. Washindi wa Shaba ni kazi za ufundi mwingi na bunifu ya kushangaza zinazothibitisha uzoefu mpana, mawazo na ustadi wa wabunifu wao. House In Mise Nyumba inatarajiwa kuwa kitu kinachothaminiwa sana, kupendwa na kuenziwa, ambacho ni cha kitaalamu na bunifu kwa kiasi kikubwa. Muundo huu ulioshinda Tuzo ya Shaba ya A' Design Award unajumuisha mbinu bora katika sanaa, sayansi, usanifu na teknolojia, na ni bora kwa umakini wake kwa undani. House In Mise Nyumba hutosheleza mahitaji kwa uzuri, hugusa hamu, huvutia hisia na kuvutia udadisi.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: This project is a renovation of a traditional Japanese rural house that reorients daily living toward forest and river through spatial layering, light modulation, and material authenticity. By retaining the existing timber structure and integrating engawa-like thresholds with locally sourced materials, it achieves environmental continuity, sensory depth, and long-term sustainability.
Dimensions & Packaging: Renovation of an existing traditional Japanese timber residence located in Mitsuse, Saga Prefecture, Japan. The project preserves the original wooden structural frame while introducing new timber openings, shoji-lined windows, and expanded terraces. Materials include local cedar columns, knot-free hinoki flooring, reed ceilings, and granite paving. Passive environmental strategies include cross-ventilation, deep eaves, and interior–exterior continuity to moderate seasonal climate conditions.
Tags: Architectural renovation, Residential architecture, Adaptive reuse, Japanese architecture, Engawa reinterpretation, Landscape-integrated design, Climate-responsive architecture, Material authenticity
Production Technology: The project was realized through adaptive reuse of an existing post-and-beam timber structure, retaining approximately 80% of the original frame. Traditional Japanese carpentry and joinery were combined with precise contemporary detailing to recalibrate openings, deep eaves, and spatial thresholds. Locally sourced cedar, hinoki cypress, reed, granite, and handcrafted shoji paper were integrated to ensure climatic compatibility, material longevity, and seamless interior–exterior continuity.
Design Challenge: The primary challenge was reconciling contemporary living requirements with the preservation of a deteriorated traditional timber structure whose original spatial coherence had been lost through incremental alterations. Structural limitations, regulatory constraints on renovation, and climatic demands of a humid mountain valley required precise intervention. The project demanded selective demolition, careful structural repair, and the reinterpretation of traditional spatial principles to restore environmental continuity without erasing historical character.
Research: Type of Research: Contextual architectural design research.
Research Objectives: To explore how traditional Japanese architecture can reconnect daily life with nature.
Methodology: Long-term site observation and iterative renovation design.
Data Collection and Tools: Climate analysis, spatial studies, material testing, and architectural drawings.
Participants: Architect and client collaboration over five years.
Results: A restored house integrating light, river, forest, and seasonal change.
Insights and Impact: Demonstrates how culturally rooted renovation can improve well-being and sustainable living.
Inspiration: The project was inspired by traditional Japanese residential architecture, where light, shadow, and seasonal change shape daily life, and by the site’s forested river landscape in Mitsuse, Saga Prefecture. The client’s desire for refuge from urban intensity prompted a research-based approach to spatial layering, engawa reinterpretation, and material authenticity, integrating climate-responsive design and local craftsmanship to restore continuity between dwelling and nature.
Project Duration: The project is located in Mitsuse, Saga Prefecture, Japan, within a mountainous river valley in northern Kyushu. Design development and construction were carried out as a comprehensive renovation process, with the project completed in 2025 following an extended period of site analysis, design coordination, and on-site craftsmanship.
Operation Flow: The house is experienced through a gradual sequence between interior and nature. Large sliding openings connect the lounge, dining area, and guest spaces to terraces facing the river and surrounding forest. Light, wind, and seasonal landscape continuously transform the atmosphere throughout the day. The design encourages slow movement and quiet observation, allowing daily life to unfold in direct relationship with natural sound, light, and climate.
Patents: Architectural design copyright: Tomomi Omachi / tou., 2026. Photographs copyright: Tatsuya Tabii, 2026.
Team Members: Tomomi Omachi
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Tatsuya Tabii, House in Mise, 2025.
Image #2: Photographer Tatsuya Tabii, House in Mise, 2025.
Image #3: Photographer Tatsuya Tabii, House in Mise, 2025.
Image #4: Photographer Tatsuya Tabii, House in Mise, 2025.
Image #5: Photographer Tatsuya Tabii, House in Mise, 2025.