{"id":487253,"date":"2026-05-16T05:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487253\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T05:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:47:34","slug":"keiji-ashizawa-transforms-120-year-old-townhouse-into-rental-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487253\/","title":{"rendered":"Keiji Ashizawa transforms 120-year-old townhouse into rental home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design<\/a> has created the Toune holiday home<\/a> in a 120-year-old machiya<\/a>, preserving its original layout and the “sense of time embedded within the building” while giving it a contemporary update.<\/p>\n

The studio renovated the two-storey building in Kyoto’s central Shimogyo Ward, while retaining original details such as its raised entrance, known as an agari kamachi, a tori-niwa indoor passage and its timber framework.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorThe rental home is in a traditional machiya building<\/p>\n

“For this project, we wanted to carefully reinterpret a traditional Kyoto machiya for contemporary living while preserving the atmosphere and sense of time embedded within the building,” Keiji Ashizawa Design<\/a> (KAD) studio founder Keiji Ashizawa told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“Rather than introducing something entirely new, we tried to quietly reveal and enhance the qualities already present in the existing space, allowing people to experience them naturally through a contemporary lens.”<\/p>\n

\"Double-heightA double-height space and raised entrance are among the traditional details<\/p>\n

The wooden townhouse, or machiya<\/a>, also features a double-height central space that links the ground-floor kitchen and dining area with the living room on the floor above.<\/p>\n

When renovating the three-bedroom house, KAD preserved its existing cedar and pine elements and added new hinoki cypress details.<\/p>\n

\"WhiteShoji screens and paper lamps decorate the interior<\/p>\n

“We also used natural materials such as plaster, washi paper, stone and iron \u2013 materials that have long been part of Japanese architecture,” Ashizawa said.<\/p>\n

“Rather than over-designing them, we wanted the textures and ageing of the materials themselves to quietly shape the atmosphere of the space.”<\/p>\n

\"DiningThe ground floor has a darker tone<\/p>\n

Toune’s ground-floor space has one bedroom as well as a kitchen and dining room, while the first floor holds two bedrooms and a living room, where the studio added wooden floors and handrails.<\/p>\n

To make the interior of the 90-square-metre house feel contemporary, while still keeping the historic layout, KAD used modern furniture and lighting.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Capella<\/p>\n

Traditional wooden townhouses inform interiors of Kengo Kuma-designed Capella Kyoto hotel\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“But beyond that, we focused on the quality of light, spatial proportions, and the relationship between materials,” Ashizawa explained.<\/p>\n

“Rather than creating a strong contrast between old and new, we wanted the different layers of time to blend naturally and form a calm, unified atmosphere.”<\/p>\n

\"BedroomOne bedroom is located on the ground floor<\/p>\n

Throughout the house, KAD used a neutral colour palette of white and dark brown hues.<\/p>\n

The ground floor has a slightly darker feel to complement the ageing patina of the house, while the first floor was given a lighter colour palette to underscore its natural light.<\/p>\n

Machiyas, which were constructed between the 17th and 19th centuries, combine homes and shop spaces and are most common in Kyoto. They usually have a narrow facade that faces the street and a long and deep interior.<\/p>\n

\"BedroomThe upstairs bedrooms have a more contemporary feel<\/p>\n

Toune is the latest in a series of machiya renovations, with architects and designers often choosing to underscore the historic aspects and details of their design.<\/p>\n

To Ashizawa, their popularity is due to their intimate scale and the use of mainly organic materials.<\/p>\n

“I think much of the appeal comes from the materiality and human scale that are difficult to find in contemporary architecture today,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"BathroomAshizawa believes the scale of machiyas means they’re still popular<\/p>\n

“The softness of wood, earth, and washi paper, together with the intimate scale of the spaces, creates a unique sense of comfort,” Ashizawa continued.<\/p>\n

“There is also a richness in the relationship between light, shadow, and gardens that feels deeply connected to everyday life. I think many people today are rediscovering the beauty and authenticity embedded within these spaces.”<\/p>\n

\"WhiteToune has a mainly light colour palette that contrasts the dark wood<\/p>\n

Other recent Kyoto projects include a shingle-covered teahouse<\/a> and a hotel designed by Kengo Kuma with an interior that also draws on machiyas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.<\/p>\n

Project credits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Architect: <\/strong>Keiji Ashizawa Design
Project architect: <\/strong>Keiji Ashizawa, Nanako Inoue
Construction:\u00a0<\/strong>Nishinihon Setsubi
Furniture: <\/strong>Karimoku Case
Lighting: <\/strong>Santa and Cole
Styling:<\/strong> Yumi Nakata<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design has created the Toune holiday home in a 120-year-old machiya, preserving its original…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,18,117,28959,19,17,386,111110,29401,212707,10357,12755],"class_list":{"0":"post-487253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-holiday-homes","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-japan","19":"tag-keiji-ashizawa","20":"tag-kyoto","21":"tag-machiya","22":"tag-sectionall","23":"tag-sectioninteriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116582681833222715","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}