Y house by Beijing Matsubara and Architects

Catherine Warmann | 10 December 2010 6 comments

This residence in Beijing by Beijing Matsubara and Architects was built around a smaller house that was already on the site.

Y house by Beijing Matsubara and Architects

Called Y House, the project involved encasing an existing two-storey house with pitched roof inside a larger three-storey structure to provide more space on either side of the old building.

The original pitched roof is visible inside the top storey with a flight of steps installed on each side.

The architects intend the clients to use the north part of the house, which has natural ventilation, during the summer and the south side, equipped with basic heating systems, during winter.

Photographs are by Misae Hiromatsu.

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The following information is from BMA:

Y House design Description

This is a detached house project locating at Changping ward, the suburb of Beijing City.

The site is on the slope facing to the south, surrounded by the mountain in the north side, and has the good natural environment.

This is not a new construction but the renovation project of the old concrete structure house that was built 5 years ago.

We add the new floor and flat roofing to extend the floor area.

Originally the house was 2 stories (250 sq. m.) with angled roof, and the exterior wall was covered by white tiles.

Our new design changes it as the house of 3 stories (770 sq. m.) with flat roof, and the exterior wall is covered by gray blocks with outer insulation.

Building plan was simplified as “C” form at the same time by us.

17 meters width and 16 meters depth of the plan is rather large for one family (4 persons).

We proposed the sustainable lifestyle using this largeness. In the summertime, habitants live at the north part of the house with natural ventilation.

In the wintertime, they live at south part of the house equipped with the basic heating system.

For keeping the comfortable inner circumstance, we do not provide the high-spec air conditioning for all interior space, but provide the minimum equipment for adequate place.