House Ag by Hideo Arao Architects Office

Nestled into the gentle northern slopes of Osaka Prefecture, House Ag by Hideo Arao Architects Office is a contemporary family home designed to embody continuity, memory, and connection to place. Designed for a family of three and their two dogs, the residence sits on the very site where the client spent his childhood—one of the last remaining original homes amid a transforming suburban landscape.

This new house reimagines a lifelong memory into an open, multigenerational dwelling that blends old and new, privacy and openness, built form and landscape.

Rebuilding on Familiar Ground

Surrounded by the evolving urban fabric of Ikeda, the home is strategically sited between two contrasting roads—a bustling public road to the north and a quieter private lane to the south. The home is deliberately oriented to acknowledge both these conditions, with a thoughtful spatial arrangement that integrates the exterior context into everyday life.

The house was conceived as a final residence for the client—a space not only for family living but also for gathering with friends and future generations. This idea of longevity and legacy is deeply embedded in the home’s spatial planning and material logic.

A Courtyard-Centric Spatial Composition

At the heart of the home lies a central courtyard, designed as a play and leisure space for the family’s dogs and as a visual anchor for the home’s interior. The layout orbits this courtyard, creating a series of interconnected rooms that prioritize natural light, views, and seamless movement.

The spatial hierarchy is distributed across three staggered levels: a semi-basement, a ground floor, and an upper floor. These levels gently respond to the site’s sloping topography and help define distinct zones without sacrificing flow. A detached multipurpose room further adds flexibility, accommodating guests or serving as a retreat.

Multifaceted Roof as Landscape

One of the home’s most striking features is its multifaceted roof, which both responds to the mountainous terrain to the north and shapes the atmosphere within. Its irregular geometry creates varied ceiling heights and angles, generating spatial richness while allowing every room to feel connected under one unified canopy.

From the northern road, the roof appears monumental, forming a distinctive presence in the streetscape. On the southern side, however, the roof lowers gently, offering a more intimate scale as it touches the pedestrian path near the entrance—merging public and private realms.

Architecture that Ages with Grace

Rather than isolating the new home from its surroundings, the architecture embraces the past and anticipates future change. By incorporating gardens, trees, and even a rooftop herb terrace, the design ensures that the home will evolve with time, growing into the neighborhood both physically and emotionally.

Just as memories of terraced fields and old homes linger in the minds of long-time residents, House Ag aspires to become part of the collective memory of the place—a structure that ages with grace and meaning.

All the photographs are works of Yosuke Ohtake