Bronze Architecture · 2026
Forest Archetype House
by Genta Takano
- Bronze A' Design Award 2026 in Architecture
- CLIENT: Gla
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 7,672
- Verification code 75146D3178 · Verify this award
Colors
About Forest Archetype House
Forest Archetype is a residential project that translates the spatial order of a forest into a compact architectural form. The design is organized through a layered structural system rather than conventional room divisions. Vertical structural elements define movement and activities while maintaining visual continuity across the interior. This layered composition creates open voids and semi outdoor spaces that support flexible daily use. Through clear structural logic and spatial sequencing the house achieves richness and openness while remaining restrained in scale.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Forest Archetype House is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Forest Archetype House is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Forest Archetype House splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This project is a residential building that reinterprets the spatial structure of a forest within a compact domestic setting.
Instead of relying on conventional room divisions, the house is organized through a layered structural system that integrates architecture and built in furniture.
Large, trunk like elements form the spatial backbone of the house, enabling diverse activities and visual connections.
By combining structural clarity with spatial flexibility, the design achieves richness and openness while remaining restrained in scale. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Number of floors: 2 above ground
Eaves height: 5885mm
Maximum height: 6386mm
Site area: 1293.00m2
Building area: 85.11m2
(Building coverage ratio: 6.58%, allowable: 60%)
Total floor area: 124.14m2
(Floor area ratio: 9.60%, allowable: 200%)
First floor area: 72.16m2 Second floor area: 51.98m2
Construction type: Timber structure - Tags
- house, architecture, forest, spatial structure, timber
- Production Technology
- The ceiling above the central void was finished with a low gloss metallic surface to control light reflection and enhance spatial depth.
This surface subtly reflects changes in daylight and surrounding vegetation throughout the seasons, contributing to environmental continuity without direct visual imitation.
Large suspended panels beneath the ceiling were designed as abstracted elements derived from surrounding trees, using simplified geometry and controlled spacing.
These elements modulate light, views, and scale, creating differentiated spatial conditions through material treatment rather than enclosure. - Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was balancing continuity with the forest while maintaining architectural clarity and structural stability.
From a creative perspective, the project required reconciling Japanese spatial traditions, such as the fragmentation of small rooms, with contemporary residential needs.
From a technical standpoint, ensuring sufficient structural performance in a timber building led to the adoption of a reinforced frame using aramid fiber sheets to address lateral forces.
Material selection was also critical, as silver steel surfaces were carefully introduced to reflect seasonal light without overwhelming the interior.
These challenges required close coordination between design intent, structural constraints, and construction feasibility. - Research
- This project is based on design research exploring residential architecture adjacent to natural forests.
The objective was to understand how built space can coexist with a forest while maintaining continuity rather than separation.
The methodology involved on-site observation, spatial analysis, and iterative design testing.
Tools included site walks, sketches, physical models, and full-scale spatial studies.
The primary participants were the architect and the future occupants.
The result was a four layered spatial system that aligns architectural elements with the scale of trees.
This research demonstrates how architectural structure can enhance daily comfort and foster a closer relationship between living space and surrounding nature. - Inspiration
- This project was inspired by repeated observations of a forest adjacent to the site.
Through walking and spending time within this environment, I became aware of its spatial order, formed by the vertical presence of trees and their layered relationships.
Rather than imitating the forest as a natural form, the design seeks to abstract its vitality into a clear architectural system.
This led to the development of large, trunk like structural elements arranged in layered compositions, responding to the trees along the cliff and translating their spatial logic into architecture. - Project Duration
- The project was completed in 2017 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
- Operation Flow
- The house is experienced through movement rather than fixed rooms.
As occupants walk through the interior, the layered walls gradually align with the scale and rhythm of the surrounding trees.
This creates a continuous flow between inside and outside, where built elements and natural scenery visually overlap.
Living within the house involves moving through changing degrees of openness, light, and enclosure.
This interaction allows daily activities to unfold naturally, producing a calm and immersive environment that feels connected to the adjacent forest rather than separated from it. - Image Credits
- GLA
