Darkness and light, solidarity and transparency, softness and strength – Yukikage is a study in contrasts, wrapped up in a striking edifice wedged into the base of a sloping forest. Its angular plan and soaring eaves mimic the gesture of flight as if a physical metaphor of a skier ready for action.
It’s an apt image for the holiday home of a Singapore-based client and his family in Hirafu. “We’re all avid skiers so the house had to be not just an occasional ski house but a real, liveable home for potentially two to three months in the winter and in the green season too,” the owner says.
To realise this vision, he engaged Tomoyuki Sudo of SAAD, a Tokyo-based architecture and design office founded in 2015 and which is incorporated under the century-old construction and architecture firm Sudo Construction/Home Co., Ltd. Hokkaido Tracks Resort Properties developed the property and the interior design was put together by design agency Sanctuary Niseko.
Notably, the house was the first to be built in the ELEVATION estate – a prestige gated estate just below the Hirafu Gondola, master planned by one of Japan’s pre-eminent architects, Kengo Kuma. The 240-450 tsubo blocks were priced from US$1.3 – $2.5 million and all but sold out within one winter after launching in 2015.
Yukikage’s experimental expression attests to Sudo’s pedigree as a student of the progressive Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci Arc) and England’s Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA).
”Its dynamic form was conceived from defining important sightlines – the most significant of which is the enigmatic Mt Yotei
“This project is mainly focussed on the views and openness. The site provides both characteristic surroundings and views…the brief was about creating a harmonious relationship with the natural environment, established through the size of the openings,” says Sudo.
The 2.8m-high floor-to-ceiling windows on the second and third stories provide seamless connectivity with nature. Aside from panoramic views, natural light floods the interior. The L-shaped plan peels open the building even more, maximising the covetable views of Mt Yotei to all rooms, and barely-there balustrades lining the perimeter balconies further extend the indoor-outdoor feeling. The house’s name, provided by the client, in fact alludes to this concept. Meaning ‘snow’ and ‘shadow’ in Japanese, one is invited to contemplate the scenery under the extended eaves, as if perched beneath the shade of trees, says Sudo.
Béton brut and timber used in its natural form melds brutalism and the traditional Alpine chalet aesthetic. The warmth of the latter tempers the reticence of the former, and the panelling of the Japanese cypress and cedar lend rhythm and a sense of movement to the building. The way the materials are used won over the client. “SAAD welcomed the focus on locally sourced building materials and the desire to have the house ‘grow’ out of its surroundings with a shift of emphasis from concrete and stone in the lower floors to wood and glass in the upper reinforcing this.”
Indeed, the selected materials not only direct the mood but also the function. The first storey contains the car garage, locker room, utility rooms, and shower-cum-sauna where after a day on the slopes, the owner can immediately recover from the fatigue of the day. In the corner, a hanging staircase illuminated with a dramatic chandelier cuts through the vertical void making for a delightful welcome from shadow to shine, its branch-like forms referencing the forested silhouette outside. “The owner experiences the different spaces through the staircase, which rises through the three storeys…and stainless steel wires reflect light and show the direction of the lights,” explains Sudo on the staircase design.
The second storey contains two master en suite bedrooms that cap both ends of the plan, with another bedroom and guestroom sandwiched in between. The en suite bathrooms, separated from the outside by only walls of glass, offer the most intimate relationship with nature and its changing sceneries.
On the third and highest storey, the living room takes up almost half the footprint – a perfect space for entertaining family and guests. The generously sized Minotti Yang sofa is fitting for this purpose, its low-slung structure contrasting with a brass, brush-plated Lee Broom Hanging Hoop chair that hangs from the ceiling like a floating sculpture. In the dining area, a bronze chandelier with smoked glass globes dances above the custom-designed corten steel dining table designed by Sudo, filling the space with a palpable mood of playfulness.
The curation of the furniture and furnishings sits well within the interior design, where hard and soft textures and the use of natural materials complement the architectural expressions. Stone and concrete are used for the bathrooms and oak flooring for the main area flooring. Western Red Cedar planks on the ceilings draw the view outwards. here was a focus on the architecture and architectural skin, with the melding of the exterior and interior incorporated in the interior spatial expression. For example, furniture pieces were intentionally set away from the glass façade and walls to give the feeling of lightness and porosity.
The client – regular guests of Aman properties – had requested a house that would provide an experience akin to their favourite hospitality environments where the subtlety and thoughtfulness of design allow for rest and rejuvenation. And Yukikage does just that.
This article appeared in Powderlife 2018
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