NIKO designs Umino Marumi timber guesthouse in Japan
NIKO Design Studio completed Umino Marumi, a 2025 two-story timber guesthouse in Chiba, Japan, featuring a giant circular facade and curved sauna.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- NIKO Design Studio built the Umino Marumi timber guesthouse in Chiba, Japan
- The house features a massive circular opening on its dark facade and exposed cedar columns
- A traditional Japanese engawa veranda connects the indoor and outdoor levels
- The garden sauna occupies just 5 square meters with a curved roof shaped around trees
NIKO Design Studio has completed Umino Marumi, a two-story wooden guesthouse situated on a hillside overlooking the Pacific coast of Chiba, Japan. The residence stands out with an enormous circular facade opening and exposed timber structure, adding an unconventional touch to the residential neighborhood alongside a small companion sauna hut in the garden.
Completed in 2025, Marumi was designed as a second home for family and friends gatherings while maintaining a welcoming presence in the local community. The architects achieved this by transforming the traditional Japanese veranda, known as an engawa, into staggered outdoor platforms leading up to the upper floor.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
The house's most prominent characteristic is the giant circular opening cut into its dark exterior, exposing a network of timber columns and raised walkways underneath the pitched roof. Roughly one-third of the covered building functions as a semi-outdoor engawa, allowing visitors to gather and circulate between levels without entering enclosed rooms.
For the primary structure, NIKO Design Studio utilized substantial cedar logs measuring approximately 400 millimeters in diameter, assembled using traditional kanuki joinery cut with chainsaws. To address the sloping site, a stone retaining wall was built during a two-day workshop utilizing nozumi, a traditional stone-stacking technique.
Integrating traditional craftsmanship like kanuki joinery and nozumi stone-stacking into a modern residence highlights a growing architectural trend toward honoring local building techniques. The large circular cutout softens the visual impact of a timber structure in a residential area, while the micro-sauna demonstrates site-responsive design by allowing architectural forms to bend around existing vegetation.
Designed in collaboration with carpenter Murakami of Murakami Carpentry Workshop, the freestanding garden sauna features a curved roof shaped to accommodate a neighboring palm tree. Built on a 2x2 meter foundation with a 5 square-meter floor area, the compact sauna accommodates five to six people, combining electric and wood-fired heating with natural daylight from a skylight.
Source: designboom
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