Orandajima House

Project Description

The Orandajima House is a small after school facility and community centre designed by Martin van der Linden. The building is located in a small town in the north of Japan called Yamada-machi. When the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 hit the Tohoku area, a large part of the town was destroyed. In the immediate aftermath of this disaster a group of, initially mainly Dutch business people started a foundation called Orandajima named after a small island in the bay of Yamada where in 1643 a Dutch ship landed.
The programme for the Orandajima House called for a space where about 60 children could come together after school to play, but also heal.The design has tried to incorporate this notion of space as a healing element from the outset of the design process into consideration. The children will use the space from three o’clock pm until five or six pm. It is during these hours that the sun will provide most changing lighting conditions within the building. On the west side we have placed a mat-white polycarbonate window. Behind this window are trees and the orange light of dusk will cast beautiful shadows on this polycarbonate panel, not unlike patterns seen in Japanese rice paper screens.