01 / Selected work
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Selected work02

Youth community centre

Location
Gifu, Japan
Type
Design-build, house renovation
Year
2025
Team
20 students from Japan and Hong Kong, 11-day build
Role
Schedule and component coordination; team lead; steel fabrication liaison
A low timber deck with a built-in table and bench outside a timber-clad house, ringed by rocks
Fig. 01 - The finished deck, with rocks as seats

The brief

A community-led renovation of an existing house in Gifu, delivered by a team of 20 Japanese and Hong Kong students over an 11-day build. The work was split across four teams and scheduled component by component, so no two teams needed the same place or tools at the same time.

The deck started as a design from the Japan team, planned around their stock of reclaimed timber. On site, some of that timber was no longer usable, a pipe turned up in the ground, and space had to be left for gas cylinders, so the deck was redesigned as it was built. The foundations flooded and wouldn’t drain, so they were remade before going further.

Then we asked the people who would use it what it was for: selling drinks through the window, and sitting outside. The deck became a place to gather.

Details you didn't ask for

  1. Fig. 02 - The flip-out counter
    01

    A counter that flips out under the window

    The people who would use the deck wanted to sell drinks out of the house's window, which sits higher than the ground. A countertop that flips out below the window makes it easy to pass drinks in and out, and folds away when it isn't needed.

  2. Fig. 03 - Seating around the deck edge
    02

    Rocks that work as seats

    Rocks placed around the deck give people somewhere to sit outside, so the deck is a place to gather as well as to serve from.

  3. Fig. 04 - Steel shelf
    03

    A steel shelf that fits in a suitcase

    The steel shelf was made by a metalworker in Hong Kong and assembled in Gifu. It was split into two pieces so it could travel in a suitcase.

Drawings and process

The team at work outside the two-storey timber house during the build
Fig. 05 - The house during the build
A colour-coded spreadsheet allocating each component to a team, with its category, priority and the days and locations it was worked on
Fig. 06 - The build schedule: each component allocated to a team, avoiding clashes between work locations and tools

Materials

M01

Reclaimed timber

Deck, from the Japan team's inventory
M02

Steel

Shelves, light fixture, rain gutter and door casing, made in Hong Kong
M03

Local rock

Seating around the deck

Specification

  1. 01DeckReclaimed timber, redesigned on site around a buried pipe and gas cylinders
  2. 02FoundationsRemade on site so they drain properly
  3. 03CounterTimber countertop that flips out below the window
  4. 04SeatingRocks placed around the deck
  5. 05Steel componentsShelves, side table, light fixture, rain gutter and door casing, fabricated in Hong Kong