3×4 Café and Home / SOBO architects
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3×4 Café and House / SOBO architects
Text description provided by the architects. The situation – The husband and wife retired after working as book designers. For the next step, they planned to open a membership café where they can guide self-book making to the visitors. A small house for the couple was also necessary. They bought a small ground and visited the architect.
The site is on the slopy hill, facing north and looking down an impressive rocky mountain, the regional landmark. To the south, a caravan shop is situated above 3m higher level. For the view, the main façade should be the north, but it cannot take enough lighting. For satisfactory lighting, windows to the south is necessary, but avoiding privacy invasion from the north ground is also necessary.
The situation seemed a kind of ironic but was a chance to do a new study.
From 3×3 to 3×4 grid – The study began with slightly putting a cube onto the ground. The half-revealed lower ground floor to the slope will make the foundation. The cube was divided into 3×3 grids, both horizontally and vertically in the beginning. In the process, the grid system vertically extended below to the lower ground floor and was split and transformed internally. The center room of the grid system was focused while studying.
Typically, the center room in the classic 3×3 grid plan has a higher hierarchy. Atrium or skylight emphasizes the character. Private and utility rooms surround the center room. However, the hierarchy gets reversed in modern architecture with stacked floors. The center cell has disadvantages to being a living space with a lack of lighting and air circulation. The staircase occupies the center space instead of the atrium.
In this project, the center cell was split into two to give it both classic and modern characters. 3×3 grid turned into 3×4 by splitting. The spilled center modules are re-merged and entended both vertically and horizontally as demands. In the process, the lower ground floor came into the system to make a 3×4 grid vertically as well.
Application of the system – The cube was divided into 45 cells as a result. The design principle hereafter was to recombine the cells three-dimensionally to overcome site conditions and create a better living environment. The rooms, which were difficult to have an active skylight on the south side, were combined with the cell above to expand vertically. The rooms now have high windows to the south on the wall of the combined cell but are still free from invasion of privacy. In the midst of the cube, the isolated cells become living spaces or void, while actively being combined with other cells, which are in the outskirts or on other floors following conditions.
The grid system can be experienced by architectural expressions as well, not only by the extension of cells. Structural elements like the connection between columns and beams were emphasized. The finishing materials also help. It was induced to separate the materials where the grid is divided, or to make it visible in the floor pattern or the modules of furniture.
Windows were designed functionally, expressing combined spaces honestly. It resulted in irregular elevations. Only the main north façade has regularly arranged huge windows to offer a good view towards the northern rock. This tidy facade shows the grid system from the elevation and the low-reflection glass illuminates the sky and reveals the system clearer.
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