Relaxing retreat: M House’s stark white form strikes the perfect balance

M House is a first for Ryuji Nakamura. A pupil of renowned Japanese architect Jun Aoki, Nakamura set up his independent practice in 2004 and went on to create delicate temporary installations and imaginative retail interiors in Japan, to great acclaim. His work has been widely acknowledged for their creator's knack for precision, ethereal quality and clever use of intricate, repetitive patterns.
Fast-forward twelve years and the architect has just completed his largest project to date – a 290 sq m house, sitting along the ocean shore of Eastern Japan. It also marks a clear departure from its architect's previous work.
Nakamura's clients, longing for a 'marine house with an aged look', commissioned him (in collaboration with an interior designer and a landscape firm) for their dream retreat – and M House was born.
Sandwiched in-between two roads, M House is a balance between disciplines. Nakamura took a modest approach, feeling it as the architect's duty to design a mere 'neutral background for the interior and the plants yet to come'. If the entire villa project encompasses the design of interior, structure, exterior, and landscape, he pondered, it is up to him to design only the middle two.
The structure is a bare reinforced concrete framework clad in white-painted brick tiles that help the exterior withstand the salty ocean air. Together they make the house look as if 'awaiting a renovation', according to the architect, who mentions the white-washed panel placed halfway up the concrete interior wall as an example of the kind of 'unfinished atmosphere' that 'helps residents relax'.
The landscape designers responded to the architecture with a selection of tree and plant species, placed against Nakamura's stark white geometries. Meanwhile, the interior designers used the architect's neutral background as an invitation to constantly renew the setting as if it were a trendy Tokyo fashion store.
'This simple ordinary structure allows the residents to expand their imagination by constantly updating the interior and the garden', says Nakamura. 'It is this unfinished design that stirs the dweller's imagination of a future renovation'.
The clients approached Nakamura for a ’marine house with an aged look’
Collaborating with an interior designer and a landscape firm, the architect created a simple, neutral background for the plants and interiors, framing the sea views
The structure is a bare reinforced concrete framework clad in white-painted brick tiles
The choice of brick helps protect the house against the salty ocean air
The interior designers took advantage of Nakamura’s simple white shell to create a space that can easily change its style and decor
Their vision was to be able to constantly renew the setting as if it were a trendy Tokyo fashion store
This, says Nakamura, enhances the residents’ imagination
For more information visit the Ryuji Nakamura website
Photography: Ryuji Nakamura & Associates
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 shows
The Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to know
Designing the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
New book 'I-IN' brings together Japanese heritage and minimalist architecture at its finest
Japanese architecture studio I-IN flaunts its expert command of 21st-century minimalism in a new book by Frame Publishers
-
Giant rings! Timber futurism! It’s the Osaka Expo 2025
The Osaka Expo 2025 opens its microcosm of experimental architecture, futuristic innovations and optimistic spirit; welcome to our pick of the global event’s design trends and highlights
-
2025 Expo Osaka: Ireland is having a moment in Japan
At 2025 Expo Osaka, a new sculpture for the Irish pavilion brings together two nations for a harmonious dialogue between place and time, material and form
-
Tour the brutalist Ginza Sony Park, Tokyo's newest urban hub
Ginza Sony Park opens in all its brutalist glory, the tech giant’s new building that is designed to embrace the public, offering exhibitions and freely accessible space
-
A first look at Expo 2025 Osaka's experimental architecture
Expo 2025 Osaka prepares to throw open its doors in April; we preview the world festival, its developments and highlights
-
Ten contemporary homes that are pushing the boundaries of architecture
A new book detailing 59 visually intriguing and technologically impressive contemporary houses shines a light on how architecture is evolving
-
And the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 goes to... SANAA!
The RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 winner is announced – Japanese studio SANAA scoops the prestigious architecture industry accolade
-
Architect Sou Fujimoto explains how the ‘idea of the forest’ is central to everything
Sou Fujimoto has been masterminding the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka for the past five years, as the site’s design producer. To mark the 2025 Wallpaper* Design Awards, the Japanese architect talks to us about 2024, the year ahead, and materiality, nature, diversity and technological advances