With by Studio Loop

Japanese architects Studio Loop have completed a house in Gunma, Japan, conceived as a hole in which the residents can shelter.

Called With, the two-storey house is situated with a main road to the north and farmland to the east and west.

Private rooms are located on the ground floor, organised around the perimeter of a double-height communal space.

Since we had to find a solution at low cost budget, an exterior skin had to be one material. Considered to its natural landscape, we thought the house should be a mass and a unity object and chose black which makes its existence disappear in the natural environment. To do this, we wanted to reflect the form against nature. In the suburban area, opposite to the urban area like Tokyo, people have a lot of opportunities to have a relationship to nature everyday. Here we started to design how a house can keep standing against particular environment.

Project Name: With
Project Year: 2008-2009
Location: Itakura town, Gunma, Japan
Program: Residential
Structure: Wood Construction
Site Area: 413.13 sqm
Building Area: 133.32 sqm
Total Floor Area: 173.07 sqm