Natural State

As well as its striking profile, interesting use of materials and relaxed aesthetic, what really sets Kyodo House apart is its symbiotic relationship with its environment

- Erik Rimmer

In a quiet residential neighbourhood half an hour’s drive from Tokyo’s bustling city centre lies Kyodo House, a home that was built with respect for the environment in mind by using sustainable principles. The structure is a compact one, spanning only 156m2, and emits an awareness for nature that is reinforced by its facade – which is clad in discarded wooden offcuts – as well as interiors that feature recycled materials and secondhand furniture.

Owned by art director and designer Hidenori Kondo of Sandwich and his wife Ayumi, who works for Japanese fashion brand Comme des Garçons, this house is quite unusual in that it was designed and built not just by one artist, one architect or only by engineers. Sandwich is a Kyoto-based creative platform of various disciplines with a team of graphic designers, architects and creatives, so it was simple to find the right group of experts to carry out the build.