House in Gosen

This project is a renovation of a traditional two-story wooden house—approximately 230 square meters in size—located in Gosen City, Niigata Prefecture. Originally home to three generations, the house is now occupied by the client and their son. The goal was to create a more compact living environment suited to a two-person household. The renovation focused on approximately half of the ground floor—an area large enough to accommodate daily life—and was enclosed with insulation for improved energy efficiency. On the opposite side of the central hallway lie a guest room and Buddhist altar room with a spacious engawa. It is a calm and pleasant space, where views of the garden can be enjoyed through open shoji screens and sliding doors in spring and autumn. To allow the house to be used more flexibly across the seasons, large sliding partitions were installed to separate the renovated and unrenovated areas. Finishes such as the floorboards, tiles, and other materials were carefully selected to complement the existing decorative elements—such as feature windows, coffered ceilings, and amber-toned floorboards—creating a balance of contrast and harmony so that the renovated area feels integrated with the overall structure. Amid the growing number of similar houses affected by population decline and an aging society in rural Japan, this project may offer one possible approach to reimagining traditional homes for contemporary life.