ICADA Designs Japanese Home with Adjustable Layout and Elevated Storage

Japanese architecture studio ICADA has completed a residential project in Saitama, Japan, called Live Sawn House. Designed by founders Masaaki Iwamoto and Nariaki Chigusa for a family of four, the two-story, 113-square-meter home features innovative space-saving solutions. These include sliding bookshelf walls that reconfigure the first floor and a walk-in wardrobe elevated on stilts over a narrow alley. The structure utilizes minimally processed cedar planks with raw edges, sourced affordably from Kyushu due to an oversupply of mature trees and limited milling capacity for large logs. The timber was geothermally dried near Mount Aso to reduce costs and environmental impact. The design addresses the constraints of a compact 'flagpole' site and a limited budget while allowing flexible room arrangements as family needs change.