The building we were requested to renovate was a rental building which had traditionally been used as a base by a post office etc. for commercial purposes. The building was planned to be dismantled after more than 50 years of serving. In order to make it usable as a shop, reinforcement of pillars including the ones on the tilted second floor was essential. While the pillar reinforcement required the outer wall to be dismantled and repaired, it would put great pressure on the limited budget.

https://www10.aeccafe.com/

The premises are easily accessible and fairly wide, located in a category 1 medium- and high-rise exclusive residential district, and have a busy road, albeit one-way, right in front and tall apartment buildings on both sides.

https://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/2019/04/05/ring-in-fukushima-japan-by-life-style-koubou/#more-550663

Life style koubou uploaded OBROS COFFEE2 through Add A Home. Add your own project for the chance to be featured in Editor's Picks.

https://www.dwell.com/home/obros-coffee2-2823d0c6

Life style koubou uploaded OBROS COFFEE through Add A Home. Add your own project for the chance to be featured in Editor's Picks.

https://www.dwell.com/home/obros-coffee-f860955c

Text description provided by the architects. The city of Itsuura, located in the north part of Ibaragi prefecture, has known as a prosperous fishery. Tenshin Okakura * who was enamored by the scenery of the coast line of Itsuura and loved the place as his final abode. There are some historic architectures such as Rokakudo ** designed by Tenshin and Tenshin Memorial Museum of Art. The owner of the house is a fisherman. His ancestor was a sailor attendant working near Tenshin. In those days, it was saying that Tenshin left a message "Fishermen do plant trees in mountains". The story of the project starts with planning to make full use of the site in the mountain inherited from his ancestor and design the house.

https://www.archdaily.com/607523/house-in-itsuura-life-style-koubou?ad_medium=widget&ad_name=more-from-office-article-show

‘A Long House’는 후쿠시마현 소마시(Soma city)에 위치한 2011년 토호쿠 지진에서 살아난 타일 지붕으로 된 36년 역사의 건물을 현대적으로 새롭게 리노베이션했습니다. 미나미 소마는 후쿠시마현에서 제공하는 가장 큰 축제 중 하나 인 “Soma Nomaoi” 야생마 추격 축제로 알려져 있으며 또는 ‘일시적인 대피 구역’으로 가장 잘 알려져 있습니다. 후쿠시마 원전 사고 이후 많은 사람들이 도시를 떠나 멀리하고자 했으며 그 결과 이 지역에는 많은 빈집들이 발생했습니다. 건축가에게 리노베이션을 요청한 건축주 부부도 일시적으로 대피할 수 밖에 없었으며 정부의 규제 해제 이후 그들의 소중한 집으로 다시 돌아가기로 결정했고 리노베이션 해달라는 요청을 했습니다. [출처] 마을 축제와 함께 즐기는 일본 단독주택|작성자 하우저

http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=is8478&logNo=221470148198&categoryNo=12&parentCategoryNo=12&from=thumbnailList

“More than a house but less than a store” Walking into the urbanization control area from the inner city of Fukushima City through Prefectural Road 4, a peaceful rural landscape with a number of long stone-built warehouses come into sight, along with apple and pear farms. The owner’s grandfather also built a magnificent stone warehouse in 1973 and has been taking care of it well ever since.

https://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/2019/02/15/etobun-in-fukushima-japan-by-life-style-koubou/

As a solution, we came up with a basic shape structured by piling six concrete panel ‘rings’, each slightly shifted to create stairs-like tiers. There are no windows, and piers are shielded with first and second rings acting as a moat. The soaring concrete panels standing firmly build a strong presence, overcoming the forcefulness of the surrounding. Meanwhile, the panels have been toned down, set back and designed to set off the roadside tree standing right in front to prevent the house from being overly coercive in the area.

https://www.gooood.cn/rings-by-life-style-koubou.htm

the inner wooden box structure hosts a studio space in which students practice the art of ikebana, or flower arranging. the studio is characterized by a minimal, open plan with an interior clad in wooden panels punctuated by small, irregular punch windows. this scattering of windows offers the studio a warm, ambient lighting condition. life style koubou embarked on the design of an expressive greenhouse and ikebana studio following the 2011 tōhoku earthquake. acting as a small botanical garden, the project aims to uplift the occupants of the neighborhood with a display of nature’s vitality.

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/life-style-koubou-glass-studio-fukushima-01-04-18/

The architecture facing and adjusting the nature The site is located at the base of Bandai-san(mountain), we designed a second house for the family who living in the city. This region is designated as special heavy snowfalls area, we used more than 2m-high snow load to design a stilt structural system to protect the house from snow. The house has two blocks; a living function and a life related watery function are separately accommodated in each block. These are connected by a bridge that makes people enjoy harshness and happiness in natural environment with their five senses.

https://bookofhomes.com/2018/12/24/one-year-project-fukushima-japan-by-life-style-koubou/

The premises face a busy road and have high-rise apartment buildings on both sides. The owner requested for a quiet and free home in such environment, a house which blocks the line of sight from the outside but is also spacious, and has a strong presence among tall buildings while also blending in with the scenery.

https://archello.com/project/ring-2

Text description provided by the architects. The premises are located in Soma City, Fukushima. Minamisoma is known for “Soma Nomaoi” wild horse chase festival, one of the biggest festivals Fukushima has to offer—or perhaps best recognized as the “temporary evacuation designated zone”. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, many moved out of the city and still keep themselves away from the city. There are great quantities of empty houses in the area. The owner and his wife who have separately asked us for a renovation also had no choice but to evacuate temporarily. After deregulation, they chose to go back to the city they had been living in for decades, and we were asked to renovate their cherished home.

https://www.archdaily.com/

This is a house built by repairing a stone-built warehouse.The owner’s family were to build a new house and live on his wife’s parents’ premises, but there was already a fine warehouse made of stone built back in 1973.There were glimpses of similar stone warehouses in the surrounding area, creating a distinctive scenery.

https://archello.com/project/etobun

The plan of the house was too big for just the two of them. While reconstruction of a smaller house seemed to be the best idea as they simply wanted a more minimal house, we wanted to make full use of the original exterior, especially the tiled roof blending in with the scenery perfectly and strong enough to survive the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Our suggestion was to keep the roof structure as it is, and minimize the living space and renovate most of the remaining area into a terrace.

https://archello.com/project/a-long-house

The architecture facing and adjusting the nature The site is located at the base of Bandai-san(mountain), we designed a second house for the family who living in the city. This region is designated as special heavy snowfalls area, we used more than 2m-high snow load to design a stilt structural system to protect the house from snow. The house has two blocks; a living function and a life related watery function are separately accommodated in each block. These are connected by a bridge that makes people enjoy harshness and happiness in natural environment with their five senses.

https://bookofhomes.com/2018/12/24/one-year-project-fukushima-japan-by-life-style-koubou/

amidst the urban context of japan’s fukushima city, life style koubou completes ‘ring’ — a house designed as a spacious, open-air fortress. facing a major road and surrounded by high-rises, the windowless residence is closed off from the exterior and exhibits a strong presence within its context. while this impenetrable, concrete enclosure ensures the privacy of the occupant, the interior is flooded with overhead sunlight. life style koubou managed this duality by designing the structure fundamentally as a stack of stepped volumes.

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/life-style-koubou-fukushima-house-12-18-18/

Life Style Koubou recently completed construction of a windowless home in Fukushima, Japan. Contrasting surrounding high rise towers with its low-level structure, the standout residence exudes a minimalist appeal with its all-over concrete enclosure.

https://hypebeast.com/2018/12/life-style-koubou-fukushima-house

The owner’s family who were to move to this area was thinking of clearing the warehouse and building a new house. When the family came to us and visited the premises together, there was a well-kept, grave but somewhat lively stone warehouse blending into the scenery.

https://life-style-koubou.divisare.pro/projects/399907-etobun

The house is built in the Kamata area, located north of the heart of Fukushima City . Nearby is the Abukuma River running through Fukushima Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture.

https://divisare.com/projects/399908-house-with-latticework

The Japan based architectural office Life Style Koubou has designed "One year projectl" family villa that located at the base of Mount Bandai a stratovolcano in Inawashiro-town, Bandai-town, and Kitashiobara village, in Yama-Gun, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

http://www.amazingarchitecture.com/post/one-year-project-designed-by-life-style-koubou

japanese firm life style koubou has designed a steel and timber house in domae, fukushima. the scheme takes full advantage of its 76 square meter plot and incorporates nature in the form of plants and trees. the trapezoid-shaped building has three floors, each with a series of voids and solids. a steel framework has been used for the house’s main structure, with the living space built using laminated and panelized cedar planks — a material known as ‘WOOD. ALC’ or ‘W. ALC’ for short.

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/house-in-domae-life-style-koubou-06-16-2018/