Cold climates and a fireplace… There’s a very special experimental house in Hokkaido, Japan conceived to test the limits of domestic architecture in extreme cold conditions. Meme Meadows is a single story translucent cabin with 79sqm of constructed area developed from a traditional example of the indigenous Ainu, whose buildings were clad with bamboo grass in order to hold in the heat of a central fireplace that was never allowed to burn out. A contemporary approach turns an ancient concept into a modern residence capable of resisting the most defying context: snow, ice and negative temperatures. Let’s unravel the mystery behind this particular experimental house.
The building is erected around a coated larch frame and it has a layer of polyester insulation sandwiched between the exterior polycarbonate cladding and the glass-fiber fabric of the interior. An Eco-friendly solution purposes an insulation made of recycled plastic bottles allowing daylight to pass into the house through the walls.
The program presents a distribution that respects a central fireplace – the nucleus of the composition – around which all the social areas are disposed. A sliding door establishes the access to the interior at one corner of the house: a small hall guides to the central open space where the fireplace captures all the attention.
A small kitchen kit is incorporated in an equipped wall for storage while the bathroom is positioned behind a glass wall. At the opposite corner a bedroom and a study room separated by a white curtain wall complete the domestic program. The intense bright atmosphere is suddenly punctuated by three wooden columns… a warm mood invites to comfortably inhabit this light house, offering the impression of being somewhere else but in a cold climate environment!
Architects & Photography: kengo kuma and associates
It’s incredible how far recycling has come. To think, if this is a long term, providing a stable warm environment to reside in full time; the plastic bottle insulation has provided a solution to the world of plastic water bottle WASTE produced by ‘US’, everyday…just think of the possibilities. They’re endless. Ask yourself, are you part of the problem or part of the solution. I know where this one lies. I have a few more questions about this build but, I will research the source and email them. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for this share. It’s incredible really. Jeanine H