A distinctive roof maximises mountain views and prevents snow build-up at this timber-framed house in Japan's Shimane Prefecture, designed by Japanese studio Enter-Archi.

Named House in Yakami after the rural town where it is located, the one-storey home was organised by Enter-Archi as three connected volumes with courtyards in between.

A covered parking space occupies the front volume, while the middle one contains an open-plan living, kitchen and dining room, and the rear volume hosts three bedrooms.

The house was constructed from a traditional Japanese timber post-and-beam system, with columns, beams and rafters left exposed.

A broken-pitch roof spans House in Yakami's three sections.

The gentler angle of the upper pitch helps keep the roof height low, maintaining views of the surrounding mountains, while the steeper lower pitch echoes the tiled roofs of the neighbouring buildings and helps prevent snow from piling up.

"By reducing the upper portion to a two-in-ten pitch and keeping the overall height low, views from the interior are drawn beyond the building towards the sky and mountains," Enter-Archi founder Yoshikatsu Iriguchi told Dezeen.

"In the living, dining and kitchen space, the ceiling height was also carefully adjusted to create a sense of bodily scale while maintaining the openness of the space."

The open layout of the central living space and its adjacent courtyards was designed to give the residents space to relax with family and friends.

Iriguchi also wanted the low-lying house to nestle into the rural landscape.

"Fields and mountain ranges extend to the east and west, while houses with traditional Sekishu-tile roofs line the north and south," said Iriguchi. "Mist settles over the area in the mornings and evenings, and in winter the landscape is covered in snow, creating a landscape distinctive to this place."

"Within this setting, there were two main themes," he continued. "The first was not to simply consume the beautiful landscape as a view, but to place oneself within it and engage with it through bodily perception."

"The second was to accept that architecture, too, can be gradually eroded by the landscape, while seeking a distinct order that remains intact and exploring the universal possibilities of architecture."

Everyday materials were chosen to finish the building, including metal roofing, cedar cladding on the exterior and plywood walls in the interior.

"Familiar materials and finishes commonly found in Japanese timber architecture were used with the intention of creating the architecture from materials that are as simple and unpretentious as possible," said Iriguchi.

Elsewhere in Japan, Keiji Ashizawa Design recently created an angular home clad in cedar, while YNAS has updated a traditional timber house by adding timber-framed canopies.

The photography is by Yoshikatsu Iriguchi.

Project credits:

Architect: Enter-Archi
Construction: Inoshita Kenchiku
Structural engineer: Umezawa Structural Engineers