Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award אין בראָנדז in אַרכיטעקטור, בנין און סטרוקטור דיזײַן Competition Category.
בראָנדזאַרכיטעקטור· 2026
Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז
by Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu
Client: Not A Hotel
A' Design Award אין בראָנדז Winner in אַרכיטעקטור Category
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The Design
About Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז
מיאָ וועג פון וואַסער איז אַ וואַקאַציע הויז דיזיינט פאַרן רעגנדיקן ברעג-קלימאַט פון יאַקושימאַ, יאַפּאַן. געסט קומען אָן אונטער אַ באַדעקטן אַרײַנגאַנג און גייען דורך אַ טרוקענעם רעגן-גאַניק אַרײַן אין אַ וווין- און עס-קערן וואָס קוקט אויפן ים. דרײַ שלאָפצימער-סוויטן צווײַגן זיך אָפּ ווי שטילע צימערן, יעדער מיט אַ פּריוואַטן וואַשצימער, אַזוי אַז גרופּעס קענען טיילן דאָס הויז אָן פאַרלירן פּריוואַטקייט. אַ ספּאַ פאָלגט אַ פּשוטן קרײַז פון סאַונע, קאַלטן טונק, וואַנע און קילונג-טעראַסע. די סטרוקטור פאַראייניקט שטאָל מיט אַן אָפענעם שווערן האָלץ-דאַך, און פאַרברענטע צעדער-באַדעקונג באַשיצט די פאַסאַד.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award אין בראָנדז
Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז איז אַ געווינער פֿון דעם A' Design Award אין בראָנדז, אַן העכסט פּרעסטיזשע אָנערקענונג וואָס ווערט געגעבן צו אויסגעצייכנטע דיזײַנס וואָס שטעכן אַרויס מיט קרעאַטיוויטעט, דערפֿינדונג און קלוגשאַפֿט. בראָנדז-געווינער זענען זייער בקיאותדיקע און אויפֿפֿאַלנדיק קרעאַטיווע אַרטיפֿאַקטן וואָס באַשטעטיקן די ברייטע דערפֿאַרונג, פֿאַנטאַזיע און דערפֿינדונג-קראַפֿט פֿון זייערע דיזײַנערס. פֿון Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז ווערט דערוואַרט אַז עס איז אַ הויך געשעצטע, באַוווּנדערטע און ליבע זאַך וואָס איז אויפֿפֿאַלנדיק פּראָפֿעסיאָנעל און אינאָוואַטיוו. דער דאָזיקער געווינענדיקער דיזײַן פֿון A' Design Award אין בראָנדז פֿאַראײניקט די בעסטע פּראַקטיקן אין קונסט, וויסנשאַפֿט, דיזײַן און טעכנאָלאָגיע, און איז אויסגעצייכנט פֿאַר זײַן אויפֿמערקזאַמקייט צו דעטאַלן. Mio Path of Water וואַקאַציע הויז באַפֿרידיקט באַדערפֿענישן פּראַכטפֿול, רירט אָן תּאוות, פֿאַרכּישופֿט געפֿילן און רופֿט נײַגעריקייט.
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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