Kita-Aizu Town Hall
The site is in a very cold location that receives heavy snowfall. In the local area, timber houses have been the predominant dwelling type over many generations. So for this project it was proposed to use timber construction that has, over several hundred years, become familiar to the villagers. Timber is used in the main entrance hall and office space.
The ceiling height is 7.5 metres, some three times the normal ceiling height. Local winters are characterised by stormy skies, and successive dark snowy days. For this reason, the ceiling is raised high, the whole south façade is glass, and skylights are provided. As a result, even in winter, the office space is flooded with so much natural light that artificial light is not needed.
In the winter of this region, buildings are often affected by strong drifting snow. The L-shaped buffer zone of this architecture protects the building from such a strong wind as though it were a windbreak of trees in this windy region.
A Japanese farmhouse is comparatively deep inside. This is a spatial device to maintain heat insulation for protecting from severe coldness in winter. However, since it is difficult to get natural light into such a deep space, a skylight is made to obtain available natural light from above.
Due to successive dark snowy days, the whole south façade is glass. As a result, even in winter, the entrance and office space can also be flooded with natural light both by skylight above and glass facade in the south.
People in agricultural villages in Japan still live in old wooden residences. They are generally used to wooden architectures and rarely feel comfortable to buildings of reinforced concrete. Therefore, in this project working space and entrance hall where people spend time most were made from wooden construction.
Inspired by the lighting scenes of the surrounding forest, the hall of the building tries to appear as an exterior space. Natural light penetrates the space through the fully glazed
roof that lays on the timber columns creating a familiar and contemporary scene for the local citizens.
