The photographer sent us the images today, and we thought we should post a few shots here. All images are by Daisuke Akita.

撮影さん取った写真は今日に届きまして、何枚ここで見せようと思いました。

全写真：　あきた　だいすけ。

the photographer visited the site a few days ago to take some pics. haven’t seen them yet, but his car was memorable. fills the space admirably. luckily the clients car is not as large ;-)

撮影者の車。駐車所はきれいにあふれました。

The owners graciously allowed us to hold an open house today, and we had people in and out through much of the day visiting. We were busy entertaining and chatting so not many pictures were taken, but managed to grab a few shots during quiet times.

I must admit, it was a great feeling to be in the home and not have to worry about remaining work, punch lists, inspections and all the rest. It was raining outside but the home was perfectly toasty and the radiant floor heating worked wonderfully. I am definitely going to have it installed in my own home (assuming such a day will come).

今日はオープンハウスでした！楽しかったです。来て貰った皆さんたち有難うございました。

It was a bit too cold and wet to use the deck today , but the garden is finally finished and looks perfect, especially at night.

今日はデッキを使いたかったけど、雨と寒さでちょっと難しかた。しかし、庭が最近終わりまして、すごくきれいになりました。天気が良くなってから外でリラックスできる所になりそうですね。

the house is now about 95% complete and will remain so for another week while we enter the new years holiday.

The remaining work is mostly on the exterior and consists of fixing/cleaning a few things here and there, so we are quite happy. The schedule is spot on. construction costs were on target, and best of all we got our completion certificate a few days ago, after inspection on christmas day. All in all a good way to finish the year.

The last large job left on the exterior was the metalworks – a fence around the deck, a gate, and a cover for mechanical equipment in the parking area out front, and a handrail for the washi-covered stair/wall. It took them a day and a half to install it all.

住宅は９５％終わりにしました。新年休みが終わってから残っている所は早くに完成します。

休み前の最後にした大きい仕事は、金属のものでした　－　デッキ/庭フエンス、ゲート、階段室の手すりキャップと駐車所の機械の化粧扉。全部は亜鉛めきのスチール材で作って貰いました。化粧扉以外は全部1日半ぐらいに設置しました。

↑↑ deck fence – all the metal work is hot-dipped galvanised steel. The process can cause the metal to deform slightly under the heat, so we had the fence made from 6mm FB, which held up fairly well even though this is a very minimal piece, structurally.

デッキ/庭のフエンス　ー　亜鉛めっきで作りました。スチールに亜鉛めっきを付ける時には熱いですから、フラットバーが曲がる可能性がありますから、今回は６ｍｍの厚さのものを使いました。このミニマル構造の場合でもそれで大丈夫でした。

↑↑ fence from the back side. the connections for the wall were nicely finished, following the angle of the triangles that support the top rail (in case you are wondering, the tape is a reminder to the contractor to clean the waterproofing coating for the deck where it dripped over the side).

後ろからフエンスを見た感じです。壁と付ける金物は三角の支え物と合わせてきれいに作りました。黄色のテープは掃除することを忘れないため付けてあります。

↑↑ the gate – is made from 2 screens of grating, welded to each side of a steel frame – making a nice moire pattern. The latch is designed so it can be accessed from either side.

ゲート　：　フレームの両サイドにグレーチングで作りました。

↑↑ the last bit of exterior metalworks is sitting in the parking area in the image above, and is designed to hang (and open) like a door to cover the mechanical equipment. The workmen didn’t have time to install it before holidays began…so it will wait a few days still…

設備機械の化粧扉は今駐車所においてありますけど、新年休みが終わってから設置します。

↓↓ workmen did have time, however, to install the railing/cap that ties the wooden stairwall together, finishing the stairway and the room. originally we had thought to use a wooden cap, but decided on steel flatbar instead to make the stair a bit stiffer. we are still wondering if it should be painted or not, as it looks interesting as it is…and echoes the fence railing outside.

階段室の手すり壁のキャップ。

we poured the very last tiles in the molds for the the front parking space yesterday. Tomorrow they will be broken from their boxes and laid in place, completing that part of the project. It was a very good feeling to strike off the last bit of concrete with a trowel and clean up the site for the last time. My younger brother came to see the home and stayed for the day to help out with the blocks as well, which made the work even more enjoyable.

今日は、最後のブロックを作って、明日に型枠をばらして乗せます。 それで、駐車所の仕事は完成します。

In the meantime, an entirely separate milestone was reached with the last lightbulb put in this morning. It is a small thing but makes the house feel complete more than many of the other little things on the checklist towards completion. It is also very nice to finally have the airconditioning units and the floor heating hooked up, so the workmen finishing up on the inside can do so without seeing their breath.

Lighting is something we are taught about only a little in architecture school and it is an elusive art when it comes to practicing in the real world. For us the hardest lamp to spec turned out to be the exterior parking lamps – the round lamps in the image above. In the end, we took advantage of the expertise of the electrician, who made these customised lights for us by modifying and combining standard sockets to create a minimal base, and simply screwing in the circular lights we found. This was both cheaper and simpler than any high-end lamps we could find, all of which were incredibly elaborate – and the final piece is very satisfying. Thanks Mr. Fukushima! The only dissapointment we have with these lights is that the manufacturer no longer makes the larger sized round lamps we specced so we had to be satisified with these slightly smaller versions that remain in production. We are looking for a similar manufacturer, or at least someone with older lamps in stock, but for now this is more than ok.

照明は全部入りました。一番難しい所は、駐車所の天井でした。最後には、電気屋さんに頼んで普通のソケットを加工してもらいました。高いものを使うより、その事をするとミニマルなランプベースが出来ました。

↓↓ Some more lamps, round the house…

家にある照明。。。

and lest we forget the home was designed around access to natural light…

照明だけじゃなくて、自然光が入るように設計した住宅を忘れないように。。。

the house is nearing the end of the end, and cleaning is underway.

this act always strikes me as slightly funny as the cleaners are inevitably working the same time as the people who are making the mess and the whole things needs to be cleaned a few times before the work is done. most remarkable, the cleaners never complain.

最後の最後の日は近付きましたので、クリーニングが始まりました。

the exterior works are not yet ready for cleaning. but the blocks we have been making over the last month or so are being put in. if all goes well in a day or two the work will be done and we will see how it looks altogether.

外部はまだ掃除が出来ませんが、私達が作ったコンクリートブロックは昨日から入れています。 出来たもの物を見れるまで楽しみにしています。