In the coastal terrain of eastern Japan, where salt air drifts through bamboo groves and mandarin orchards slope toward the Pacific, Cubo Design Architect conceived 10M, a residence that makes water its organizing principle. The home features 56,000 square feet of gently inclined land, creating the stage for an architectural project structured entirely around its 65-foot swimming pool, which functions less as recreational amenity than as generator of light, rhythm, and atmospheric presence.

The pool establishes the compositional spine, aligned deliberately with the citrus grove to the south. The architecture unfolds from this axis, all while keeping water as the home’s focus. The surface of the water catches fragmenting sunlight, creating a sparkle perceptible from every interior space. The manipulation of spatial sequence draws directly from Sukiya-zukuri architecture, the restrained aesthetic tradition formed from Japanese tea ceremony spaces. The entry unfolds through compression and release – a cave-like approach tunnel opens to a dim gallery, then through wide doors into the pool-facing expanse. The design forces adjustment of the eyes, amplifying perceived luminosity through controlled contrast.

The embedded tea room pushes this material and atmospheric precision through the function of the residence’s terminus. It borrows views into neighboring bamboo while deploying traditional elements – bark-wrapped columns, natural plaster walls, compositional gestures sourced from the 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyū – with the architects creating their own reinterpretation.

The pared palette and minimal detailing function as perceptual training, heightening awareness of environmental shifts that richer surfaces might obscure. Wind in bamboo, water ripples, bird calls, and distant surf are framed as primary content rather than backdrop. Supporting this domestic life are functional insertions handled with equal economy – wine storage, guest quarters, fitness space, all subordinate to the larger atmospheric project.

To learn more about 10M and Cubo Design Architect, please visit cubod.com.

Photography by Koji Fujii / TOREAL.

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.