completion

2014.05

location

Sakyo-ku, Kyoto

photo

Hiroshi Ueda

The project is to build a clubhouse for the students of Kyoto University on the north side of the campus as a part of the school’s groundskeeping. There are two strict restrictions imposed on the location. A cultural property buried under the ground makes it impossible to design a structure that requires deep groundwork. In addition, Kyoto city’s landscape regulations requires the roof of any structure in the area to be a pitched roof and regulates its shape, color and even the materials.
In order not to damage the buried cultural property, the foundation was designed to be the same depth as the original clubhouse. However, since the dimensions of the new building are larger than the original structure, we needed to come up with a special structure to solve stability issues. The outer columns don’t have a foundation and are suspended in the air. Only the inner columns stand on the foundation. The two columns are paired to support the roof and floor, enabling a larger structure to sit on a small foundation.
To meet the second regulation, we adopted a very simple metal-gabled roof. The color is a traditional Japanese dark gray. Applying the same color to the exposed parts of the structure brought unity to the buildings.
In the center of the long horizontal two story building lies a staircase with an extensive landing where students can gather. The bridge and stairs from the 2nd floor of the east side of the building allows students to access the sloped road and enter the ground floor directly. Adopting a migratory flow to such a seemingly plain structure, provides a different aspect to the building.