In Japan, a Straight-Ahead Gable Home Takes an Unexpected Turn

A curved facade and black steel cladding give way to bright, open living spaces for a young family of three.

Oct 23, 2023 - 20:34

In Japan, a Straight-Ahead Gable Home Takes an Unexpected Turn

A curved facade and black steel cladding give way to bright, open living spaces for a young family of three.

"The curved surface of the west facade, with its ribs, visualises a gentle rhythm and softens the black building," says Sudo.

Kikuo Shinoda’s former home was not ideal. "It had few rooms and no private space for my child," he says, adding that "it was cheap and could be found anywhere, with no sense of comfort. We didn’t want to spend time there."

The rudimentary form of the house mimics the pitched-roofed building surrounding the plot. — SAAD Architects designed a compact gable-roofed home with a curving facade for a family of three in Maebashi City, Japan.
Photo by Akari Kuramoto

On a site in Maebashi City in Gunma Prefecture that has open fields to the south, architect Tomoyuki Sudo of SAAD Architects designed something that would better suit Kikuo’s family. At first glance the new home evokes a barn with its pitched roof, but with a curved facade and swooping roofline on one side, it reinterprets a standard gable.

The brief to Sudo was for a living room with lofty ceilings, and large south-facing windows to make the most of a view of a viaduct in the distance. Natural light was also critical, as was "a simple, clean interior, a primary bedroom and two bedrooms for their daughter and a future child on the second floor, as well as another room that can be used as a hobby room or study," Sudo shares.