Havel Residence

Amid riverside woodland, lakes, and sandy paths southwest of Berlin, this country house offers a quiet nod to Japanese clarity. The architecture seeks calm, longevity, and a sensitive play with light. Its envelope in Nakamoto Forestry Gendai finished in silver-grey sets the tone: a fine, brushed yakisugi surface whose vertical grain catches the daylight and develops a gentle patina over the seasons.

The composition is deliberately simple: clear volumes, generous openings, protective overhangs. Inside and outside flow together across deep thresholds and ribbon-like windows; views lead from bright interiors into the green of the Havel’s lakescape. Gendai takes the lead, combining the robustness of traditionally charred cypress—weather-resistant, low-maintenance, durable—with the quiet beauty of wabi-sabi as the surface continues to silver with time.

The result is a house that is locally rooted yet distantly inspired: calm, tactile, and in tune with its setting. A place where Japanese clarity meets the breadth of the Brandenburg lake district—showing, day by day, how light, timber, and landscape speak to one another.

Yakisugi product used in this project: