Revolutionizing Community Living: The F House

Keisuke Fukui and Keisuke Morikawa's Innovative Approach to Foster Community Connections

The F House is not just a residential building, but also an office and café on the first floor, inviting townspeople to drop by casually. This innovative design aims to foster a living community by sharing parts of the architects' daily life in a fun and easy way. The design visualizes the town's unique plant-sharing network, aiming to establish it as a part of the local culture.

The F House's unique design features are its exterior and interior, designed to create a sense of various connections. The exterior reflects the local plant-sharing culture, attracting the interest of townspeople. The first floor is open, directly connecting to the town, while the upper floors feature a slanting open space where sunlight penetrates, and plants are placed for everyone passing by to share in the landscape.

The F House has been certified as excellent long-term housing in Japan, showcasing its superior structural, thermal insulation, maintenance, and variable performance. The building stands roughly 10 meters high, with a site area of 135.79 m2, a building area of 80.3 m2, and a total floor area of 168.79 m2.

The design of the F House was realized over a period from March 2018 to December 2022 in Chiba prefecture, 30 minutes by train from Tokyo. The project faced challenges in creating a bright atmosphere for the building and its surroundings due to unfavorable conditions that did not allow sufficient sunlight. However, the architects overcame this by taking in sunlight from high sidelights on the south side and creating a series of diagonal atrium openings.

The F House is an example of tactical urbanism, an experimental approach to urban design where short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions are used to catalyze long-term change. The architects' innovative approach to community living has been recognized with the Silver A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2023, a testament to their outstanding expertise and innovation.