Osaka studio Process5 Design created this weekend retreat in western Japan to accommodate activities that are usually impossible in a city house (+ slideshow).

Named T Weekend Residence, the three-storey house offers residents various spots to read or dine amid a cool sea breeze, and even allows them to bathe with a view of rolling hills and a wide-stretching coastline.

"It is a playground for grownups to spend a luxurious time not possible in a city," said Process5 Design.

"One can enjoy a breakfast sitting on a swing, have a barbecue with friends in summer, read books covered in a blanket in autumn, or take a nap with a fire going in a wood-burning stove in winter," it added.

The 95-square-metre house is divided up into three storeys to make the most of a steeply sloping site. The upper storey forms the entrance, living spaces are on the middle floor, and the partially sunken lower level houses the bedrooms.

The building's volumes comprises a series of connected boxes, finished in a variety of materials. These include pale brickwork, white plaster, wood and concrete.

Inside, the open-plan living space takes up the majority of the middle floor. It includes a kitchen and generous dining space, and opens out to a balcony that spans the width of the property.

There is also a more private living area located on the bedroom floor, which can entirely exposed to the elements. It is here that Process5 Design added a swing and a brick cooking unit.

A bathroom sits in one corner of this space, offering views of the mountains and coastline through a floor-to-ceiling window, which wraps around a corner and can be slid open.

A narrow wooden staircase connects both of these floors with the entrance level, which features a large wooden roof terrace.

"Each floor is connected through this [staircase] volume, which deviates from the scale of a living room, and provides different view, light and wind environment," added the team.

Process5 Design was established in Osaka in 2006. The studio's past projects include a bridal shop filled with mirrored walls and picture frames.

Photography is by Keishiro Yamada/YFT.

Project credits:

Designer: Process5 Design
Structural architect: Euplan Sekkei
Contractor: Intertec