House In Mise Ilé by Tomomi Omachi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Idẹ A' Design Award in Àpẹẹrẹ Ìkọ́lé, Ilé àti Ètò Competition Category.
IdẹÌkọ́lé· 2026
House In Mise Ilé
Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Idẹ A' Design Award Winner in Ìkọ́lé Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #182293The Design
About House In Mise Ilé
House In Mise jẹ́ àtúnṣe ilé ìbílẹ̀ ará Japan tí ó wà ní àfonífojì odò kan ní Mitsuse, Ìpínlẹ̀ Saga. Iṣẹ́ àgbékalẹ̀ yìí mú kí ìmọ́lẹ̀-àyè tí ó ṣe kedere ti ìkọ́lé igi ìpilẹ̀ṣẹ̀ padà bọ̀ sípò, bí ó ṣe ń tún ìgbésí ayé ojoojúmọ́ so pọ̀ mọ́ igbó àti omi tí ń ṣàn yíká. Àwọn ihò ìmọ́lẹ̀ tí a gbé kalẹ̀ pẹ̀lú ìṣọ́ra, àwọn ìbòrí òrùlé tí ó jinlẹ̀, àti àwọn àyè ìrékọjá onípele máa ń jẹ́ kí ìmọ́lẹ̀, òjìji, àti ìyípadà àsìkò ṣe àkóso àyíká inú ilé náà. Àwọn ohun èlò tí a rí gbà ládùúgbò bíi igi cedar, cypress hinoki, esùsú, òkúta granite, àti shoji tí a fi ọwọ́ ṣe ń fún ìbámu pẹ̀lú ojú-ọjọ́ àti òdodo ohun èlò lókun.
The Recognition
About the Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Idẹ A' Design Award
House In Mise Ilé jẹ́ olùborí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Idẹ A' Design Award, ìdánimọ̀ olókìkí gan-an tí a fún àwọn àwòṣe tó tayọ tí wọ́n yàtọ̀ nípasẹ̀ ìṣẹ̀dá, àrékérekè àti ọgbọ́n inú. Àwọn olùborí Idẹ jẹ́ àwọn ohun èlò tó ní ìjáfáfá gan-an tí wọ́n sì ní ìṣẹ̀dá tó yani lẹ́nu tí wọ́n ń ṣe ẹ̀rí ìrírí gbígbòòrò, ìrònú àti ọgbọ́n àwọn olùṣàwòṣe wọn. A retí pé House In Mise Ilé yóò jẹ́ ohun tí a kà sí gidigidi, tí a gbóríyìn fún tí a sì nífẹ̀ẹ́, tó jẹ́ ti ọ̀jáfáfá lọ́nà tó ṣe pàtàkì tó sì ní ìmúṣẹ̀dá tuntun. Àwòṣe tó borí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Idẹ A' Design Award yìí ń kó àwọn ọ̀nà tó dára jùlọ nínú iṣẹ́ ọnà, sáyẹ́ǹsì, àwòṣe àti ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ jọ, ó sì tayọ nítorí àfiyèsí rẹ̀ sí àwọn àlàyé kékeré. House In Mise Ilé ń tẹ́ àwọn ohun tí a nílò lọ́rùn lọ́nà àgbàyanu, ó ń fọwọ́ kan àwọn ìfẹ́ inú, ó ń gbà ọkàn ó sì ń fa ìfẹ́ láti mọ̀ mọ́ra.
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.
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