Off-Grid Solar Panel Residences

Florian Busch Architects Designs the House W in Japan

Tokyo-based studio Florian Busch Architects designed the House W, which is a barn-style home in Hokkaido, Japan. It is complete with photovoltaic panels for a sustainable function. House W is made fro a family who are looking to leave the bustling city of Tokyo to live off-grid in a more agricultural environment. The home has a gabled form which is sectioned in half angling the two ends to capture specific views and form a central glazed strip to welcome light in.

The studio shared with Dezeen, “The house’s design starts with a compact volume, deliberately informed by the simplicity of a farmer’s barn. However, the concept moves away from a single, compact mass and instead breaks the building into separate volumes, rotated to face the east and northwest. Rather than the conventional way of placing solar panels on top of a roof as a retrospective add-on, the detailing the building’s exterior cladding, its ‘solar skin’, is a key driver of the design.”

Image Credit: Florian Busch Architects