This is a renovation of a house built about 90 years ago in Nara City. The clients are a young couple and their son. Their first plan was to buy an old house and renovate it, but they could not find a suitable property, so they decided to renovate a vacant house owned by the wife's parents.The house had been used mainly as a rented house, and after several extensions and renovations, it had been vacant and abandoned for several years. Leaks and termites had severely damaged the pillars, beams, and mud walls, the south window was blocked by a bathroom addition, the garden was overgrown, and the interior was dark throughout the day.To renovate an old Japanese house into a safe and comfortable place to live, it is essential to change the floor plan to fit modern living, reinforce the structure and insulation, and ensure air conditioning and air tightness. However, traditional construction methods require a long time and huge costs. Moreover, insulating the entire house and isolating it from the outside environment destroys the character of the Japanese house, where the interior and exterior are softly connected.We designed a nested floor plan with a compact living room surrounded by a buffer zone called "Sukima," which supports the circulation and function of the house and includes an entrance, storage, garage, toilet, library, and staircase.The second floor contains two bedrooms, a study, and an attic. Old sliding doors that were previously used have been reused in various parts of the house after maintenance. The abandoned bathroom was removed and transformed into a sunny garden connected to the living room. As a result, the house has acquired both modern characteristics of safety and high efficiency and traditional characteristics of interior and exterior resonance. In Japan, the number of vacant old houses is increasing, and this method can be effective in their renovation.
