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Inspired by customers ’powerful family ties and their connection to the environment, the Totoro House concept blurs boundaries between living spaces and the garden. Designed by CplusC Architectural Workshop, this design was named after Studio Ghibli’s animated fantasy, My Neighbor Totoro, which explored the importance of such relationships more than three decades ago. To keep these ties intact, the living room, kitchen and dining room are fused into one family zone that melts into the garden. The outdoor space serves as an extension of the living room, including its own kitchen and seating area, so that family life can flow freely and contentedly.
The exterior of this unique home design has a clear spatial appeal, synonymous with the futuristic thinking of the architecture of the late 1950s. A sloping roof sweeps around the side of the house with a widely curved angle before hovering into the sky like a large angular projection.
The aerodynamic roof design overshadows a one-story building with interesting windows. Clerestory windows cut around the full perimeter, crowning walls of glass double doors and round feature windows.
At night, the effect is dramatized under warm glowing lights from inside and outside the home.
The original house on this plot suffered a disconnect from the back garden due to the topography. A new extension was added to bridge the gap that hindered the homeowners, creating an easier transition to the outhouse via fresh housing. Small courtyards have been added to extend the usable area, such as this shady place with outdoor chairs.
The new outdoor spaces were arranged with the privacy of both the homeowners and their neighbors in mind, ensuring that everyone could continue to enjoy the environment in peace and solitude with their families.
The roof overhang blurs the margin between indoor and outdoor living spaces, turning outdoor areas into partially covered rooms.
The new home extension has a large round window that accepts a wonderfully framed view of the landscape into the living room.
The circular motif is repeated on the face of the building and in a second window behind the outdoor dining room. To achieve the decorative brass coating with environmentally conscious practice in mind, careful calculations were made to cut from just two standardized sheets.
From the outside, the round window designs are a hatch in the family’s exquisite lifestyle.
The threshold between the architecture and the garden was buffered with the help of a landscape designer. Native plants make soft boundaries around the yard and climbing plants are intended to wrap around the master bedroom facade over time.
Next to the outdoor dining set, a high-quality barbecue grill stands ready for cooking under a shady pergola.
The new home layout has transformed the previously gloomy residential areas into a single light-filled open space. This free-flowing concept has given homeowners a desire to be more united with their children.
The round window concept that frames the garden view was prompted by the traditional Japanese concept of Shakkei. Shakkei is the principle of including a background landscape in the composition of a garden, or “borrowed landscape”. In this case, the large harbor delivers a scene of tranquility during the school day and a snapshot of fun family activities during evenings and weekends.
The curves of a wing back seat complete the circular window design.
With the glass doors on each side of the room retracted, there is a happy breeze all day long, as well as the fresh smells and soothing sounds of nature.
The living room furniture rests on a welcoming white living room rug, providing luxurious comfort from the hard, tiled living room floor.
The kitchen is visually separated from the living room by a change of floor height, which allows parents to control their children playing while they cook dinner.
Indoor plants are located along the thresholds of skylights to strengthen the connection with the garden.
Steps climb up the circular kitchen dining room on both sides, facilitating easy movement around the main residence for multiple family members undertaking different tasks.
Fluted panels add a modern texture to the wood kitchen design.
In the bedroom, part of the round window has become operable to allow for natural ventilation. The curved frame serves as a fun window seat for the kids.
Two layers of curtains provide control of the level of light and privacy.
In the master bedroom, a pocket door slides away to reveal a tiny shower space.
Moving from the shower, we come to a unique bathroom sink under a frameless vanity mirror. The walls of the indoor bathroom are covered with vertical subway tiles, which makes the room look taller.
All the original areas of the home have been updated to match the new extension, including the modern landscape design.
The new spaces improved family life and fun.
Careful consideration was given to the use of materials in the design of Totoro House, with many existing materials recycled and reused to reduce waste.
This design ethos coincides with the family’s sustainable lifestyle.
Daily environmental impact was also reduced including 8000L rainwater.
A 3kW photovoltaic system was also installed to power the home with solar.
The solar store operates outdoor lights long at night.
On the floor, we can see the connection between the private bedrooms of the original house, the new open-plan living room extension, and the garden.
This is an atypical house tour that does not use music to sustain the images instead, it embraces the natural sounds in the environment of the house.
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