滋賀県多賀町に設計した、木造平屋２６００平米の公民館のプロジェクトである。地域の木材を最大限活用した、まちづくりの拠点として構想された。公民館はこれまで、学校とはまた違う形で地域の人々の自主的な学びの気持ちを育み、応援する場として地域に愛されてきた。そのように、人と人とが出会い、互いの知恵を伝え学び合う場であることを引き継ぎつつ、未来につながる新しい公民館をつくりたいと考えた。

既存の公民館では決まったメンバーによる貸し室利用が主となっていたが、新しい公民館では、これまで公民館に関わったことのない人も目的がなくとも立ち寄れる場とするために、部屋の中だけでなく共用部に大小様々な居場所をつくった。それぞれの部屋は、庭をはさみながら雁行して配置され、それらをつなぐ廊下のあちこちに、休憩の出来るベンチやおしゃべりが出来るテーブル、小さなキッチンなどが点在している。このような雁行の配置や、廊下による回遊性は、近隣の滋賀の大きな民家にも見られるもので、様々な部屋が廊下や縁側でつながり、あちこちに印象的な光と影の空間が生まれているところや、ところどころに蔵が配置されることで防火の役割を果たしているところ、そして庭との豊かな関係を参照している。町産材利用に関しては、集成材を使わず、地元で調達することのできる製材をベースに計画をしている。そのため、梁せいは３００mmにおさえ、４m以内の製材を金物で継いでいくことで、最大１０m以上のスパンの大空間を実現している。

This project is a 2,600 square meter wooden single-story community center that we designed in Taga. It was envisioned as a town-making hub that fully utilizes local lumber. Up to this point, community centers have existed as a place that nurtures and supports the local people’s self-motivated learning in a manner that differs from schools. Therefore, we wanted to create a community center that will be suitable as a place where people meet each other, exchange wisdom, and learn together.

The main use for the existing community center was rentable rooms used by a fixed group of members of the community. However, since we wanted people who had never used a community center before to wander aimlessly and stop by this new community center, we created various large and small places for people to spend time, not just in rooms, but also in common areas. Each room is placed in a “flying geese” pattern on either side of the garden, and the corridors connecting the rooms are interspersed with benches for resting, tables for conversing, and small kitchens.
This flying geese pattern and the meandering through the corridors can be found in traditional large private houses nearby in Shiga. As various rooms are interconnected by corridors and verandas, impressive spatial moments of light and shade are created here and there. The placement of various storehouses also prevents fires, while maintaining a generous relationship with the garden.

In order to make full use of locally produced building materials, instead of using mass engineered timber, the design was based on materials and sizes that can be procured locally. The depth of the beams was therefore capped at 300mm, and all members were made by connecting timber members no longer than 4m into longer beams to form a large space of over 10m maximum span. More than 2 years were needed to procure the lumber, and as we watched trees being felled in the mountains, hung and carried out by wires, and ultimately processed into lumber, it made a big impression on us. As the trees that were nurtured over tens of years in the mountains, were being used in construction of a building that has the same mountains as its backdrop.