Private Villa JUGE
Completion | Apr. 2019
Principal use | Hotel
Project Area | 122.43m2
Location | KYOTO JAPAN
Architect | AtSpace Architects
A rental villa called Private Villa JUGE is located on a famed traditional tourism spot in Higashiyama, Kyoto. The two story with two bedrooms and two tatami-rooms wooden villa is designed with a fresh sensibility by reinterpretation of traditional Japanese method.
The courtyards connected to the dining and living room contribute fresh open air and vital atmosphere seasonally. The outdoor bath invites the guests to relax extraordinarily with a view of the exotic garden. The various glazed windows reflect aesthetic sunlight and shadow which changes by passage of time. By those elements, it feels a relation with external environment in its limited small property.
A main purpose of the project is to establish a new value by creation a modern architecture incorporating traditional Japanese ethos, because a location of the new-build villa is especially traditional area in Kyoto where there are already a lot of historical buildings. The architecture studio AtSpace Architects focuses on painstaking detailed studies to confirm the optimum balance between future and past.
The eaves height of its facade, similar to adjacent houses in front of the street, is figured on keeping both consonance with the original townscape of outside and the comfortable volume of inside. In contrast to monotone facade, its entrance door is only finished by natural clear paint. The unique conspicuous color of fresh wood indicates the entrance to the unexpected modern inner space.
The main courtyard covered by white pebbles to reflect sunlight and the central void with a sculptural staircase provide aesthetic sunlight and shadow into their guest rooms, which changes by passage of time through the various glasses. One of the windows is set with handmade Japanese Washi Paper that creates soft sunlight on the inside. The another window has bubbles that draws an indefinite profile of a tree on the outside courtyard.
Also two kinds of the windows inspired by Japanese traditional method allow to introduce the exterior view into closely. The five triangles window on the entrance imitates the Yasaka pagoda, a five story pagoda build close to the property, which is a historic symbol in the Higashiyama area. It looks like a picture on the wall to welcome the guests with framing the Japanese garden view on the outside. The deep framed window on the second floor is inspired by Japanese garden method called "Ikedori". It trims away the surrounding outside view to emphasize the Yasaka Pagoda.
In addition, the studio incorporates Japanese elements with light refined sensibility into the villa. In the main room, the exposed wooden beams like a townhouse in Kyoto are finished by natural tone. In tatami-rooms, the gold brass and silver stainless ceiling lights are installed to match with the golden ceiling and the silver wall. And as one of the features of the villa, the light staircase is made by mixture of steel structure and ornamented wood with fluting work.
