House N by Tomohiro Hata is based on a traditional Japanese vernacular
Japanese architect Tomohiro Hata planned this suburban house in Hyogo Prefecture as a cluster of three buildings around a courtyard, based on the traditional city residences of farmers, artisans and merchants.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_2.jpg)
Named House N, the family residence was designed by Tomohiro Hata to reference Japanese minka, a typical vernacular home from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that is often made up of several structures. These can include a main building, a separate cottage, a warehouse and a chicken coop.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_8.jpg)
"Following the form of traditional Japanese private houses, we considered an arrangement that can let all rooms open to the garden," said Hata.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_4.jpg)
The three buildings fold around the generously sized courtyard, but also lead out to two smaller gardens at the corners of the site, which are enclosed behind a high perimeter wall.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_12.jpg)
"The building and the wall are integrated, so that the arrangement [of the plan] can be designed as freely as possible," added Hata.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_13.jpg)
All three buildings have separate entrances, but are connected to one another by glazed corridors that allow views between the three outdoor spaces.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_16.jpg)
The largest of the three buildings is a two-storey structure with a dining room and kitchen on the lower level and a childrens' room above.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_5.jpg)
Another two-storey block contains a multi-purpose room and the master bedroom, while the smallest building houses the family living room.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_7.jpg)
Large windows direct views towards the courtyard, which is made up of wooden platforms at different heights to one another.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_3.jpg)
The site slopes down at the rear, so the architect has slotted a single-car garage underneath the house.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_9.jpg)
Photography is by Toshiyuki Yano.
Here's a project description from Tomohiro Hata:
House N
Housing that takes advantage of the richness of a private house in the city.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_15.jpg)
It is found that an architectural form as a main building, a separated cottage, and a warehouse: kura are built within a site surrounded softly by a wall at the suburbs of Sasayama city and Tamba city in Hyogo prefecture where many traditional houses remain.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_14.jpg)
Surrounding the area softly with walls, each of the rooms faces to the inner courtyard produced by the external space between each building. It is a very simple and rich living space as you can keep it open with feeling at ease.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_11.jpg)
By focusing on the characteristics of the house that site area is limited at suburbs in the complicated city described above, we aimed to create the environment protected as a residence with opening to the outside of the house.
![House N by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_21.gif)
![House N by Tomohiro Hata](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_30.gif)
![House N by Tomohiro Hata](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/12/House-N-by-Tomohiro-Hata-AAA_dezeen_31.gif)