House and Office in Hokusetsu by Fujiwaramuro Architects
House and Office in Hokusetsu places a family home and workplace along a tree-lined avenue in Osaka, Japan, under the direction of Fujiwaramuro Architects. The project stacks a concrete-tube living level above an aluminum-clad base with garage and office rooms, turning a height difference on the site into a clear split between domestic life and daily work. Inside, exposed concrete and filtered light shape a calm yet engaged urban setting.
The concrete tube lifts above the busy avenue, its opening aligned with a row of street trees and the sweep of the road beyond. Afternoon light moves across the exposed concrete, sliding from tube interior to exterior wall in a single continuous surface.
This mixed house and office project in Osaka, Japan, by Fujiwaramuro Architects turns a challenging street-front site into a stacked daily routine. An exposed concrete tube holds the main living level, while private rooms and an office sit closer to grade. The work focuses on how the building meets its context: capturing views of street trees, tempering summer heat and winter cold, and guarding privacy along the wide road.
The real estate type reads as both residence and workplace, but the decisive move is environmental. A lifted concrete volume, a shaded layer between walls, and carefully placed windows shape air, light, and outlook rather than closing the building off from its urban setting.
Concrete Tube And Street
The central idea is a concrete tube that runs along the view, its ends opening directly to the avenue lined with street trees. Inside, the second-floor living, dining, and kitchen area stretches toward this framed outlook, giving daily routines a constant tie to the urban landscape. Because the living quarters sit within the tube, both interior and exterior faces of the exposed concrete stay visible, so the shell reads as one continuous environmental buffer rather than separate skins.
Layered Living Quarters
Between the concrete tube and the walls of the ground-floor private rooms, the architects carve out a deliberate layer. Light and breezes move through this intermediate strip, softening the boundary between main living level and more enclosed rooms below. Two private rooms open toward the street trees, giving direct views outward, while two others look into the layer itself, where exposed concrete walls become the visual focus instead of passing traffic.
This layered arrangement reduces direct solar gain and drafts while still admitting natural ventilation. It also sets up a quiet inner outlook, useful on days when the family prefers concrete texture and filtered light over the activity of the wide road.
Office Below The Slope
The site sits about 2 m above street level, creating a built-in difference between sidewalk and house. Rather than bury this edge in a continuous retaining wall, the project cuts away a portion to form a garage for two cars and an office room below the main ground floor. Daily work happens here at the lower level, closer to the street and vehicles, leaving the elevated tube to hold family life.
This move also tucks much of the mass into the slope, reducing the visual bulk on the avenue. People arriving by car move from the cooled, shaded undercroft up into the brighter band of the second-floor living area, feeling the shift in air and light with each level.
Light, Breeze And Privacy
Raising the concrete tube off the ground creates a floating reading of the upper volume, while the base is wrapped in aluminum panels for a clear contrast. The lighter cladding below reflects daylight and street activity, so the heavy concrete above reads calmer against the line of trees. By sliding the living quarters back within the tube, the project cuts direct views from the road but keeps openings aligned to greenery and sky.
This configuration tempers summer heat and winter cold through mass and shading rather than relying only on added insulation. Openings toward the tree-lined street and the internal layer bring in air, while solid walls shield daily life from prying eyes along the wide avenue.
As the day cools, the living level holds a steady temperature, its exposed concrete walls catching the last angled light. Family rooms and office below stay connected to the street by view and access yet remain buffered by structure, air gaps, and cladding. The result is a compact urban building tuned to its setting, using one concrete tube and a few careful cuts to choreograph climate, outlook, and privacy.
Photography courtesy of Fujiwaramuro Architects
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