Klein Dytham Architecture completes community centre post-earthquake in Noroshi

Tokyo-based Klein Dytham Architecture has showcased Home for All Noroshi, a community centre that incorporates roof tiles from homes destroyed in Japan's Noto earthquake, in this video shared with Dezeen.

The community centre was developed in collaboration with Home for All, a non-profit organisation founded by architect Toyo Ito following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.

Klein Dytham Architecture (KDa) founders Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham worked closely with the residents of Noroshi, a town in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture, on the design of the building.

"The design emerged through close dialogue with the town's mayor and, most importantly, local residents," Dytham told Dezeen.

"From the outset, there was a shared desire for something that looked forward, something optimistic and symbolic of renewal. At the same time, residents were clear that the building needed to feel grounded in local traditions and familiar ways of making."

As seen in the video, launched on 1 January 2026 to mark the two-year anniversary of the Noto earthquake, the resulting community centre evokes traditional Japanese houses.

KDa used traditional carpentry techniques from the region and incorporated reclaimed kawara roof tiles, salvaged from damaged homes, in the construction of the 119-square-metre community centre.

"These materials carried both cultural memory and emotional weight, allowing the building to feel immediately connected to the place and its people," Dytham said.

The tiles were reused despite their weight playing a part in the collapse of some of the area's older buildings in the Noto earthquake.

"Many traditional farmhouses, 75 to 100 years old, collapsed," Dytham said. "While the weight of traditional kawara tile roofs was a factor, the primary cause was structural degradation over time: timber columns had rotted at their bases, lost proper connection to their foundations, and the buildings toppled."

For the community centre, the studio salvaged 7,000 tiles from one house, which weighed approximately three kilograms each, for a total weight of over 21 tons.

"This mass is excellent in typhoons, helping keep roofs firmly in place, but problematic during seismic events," Dytham pointed out.

To solve this, KDa worked with structural engineers to ensure that the building was not just earthquake-proof but also suitable for Noroshi winters.

"We worked closely with structural engineers to ensure full compliance with current building regulations, including requirements for both earthquake resistance and the region's heavy snow loads," Dytham explained.

"As with all timber buildings, the key lies in load paths and connections," he continued. "The structure incorporates well-considered cross-bracing in both walls and roof planes, allowing seismic forces to be absorbed and dissipated safely."

"Connections between columns, beams, and foundations were carefully detailed to ensure continuity and prevent the kind of failures seen in older buildings."

The film of the project shows how architecture "can become far more than shelter, it can be a place of warmth, memory, and return", Dytham said.

"Recovery architecture is not a single act, but a long process," he continued. "Home-for-All does not arrive as a first responder, but as a last responder, stepping in once rescue operations and emergency infrastructure are in place, and attention begins to shift from survival to living."

KDa is continuing to support Noroshi's rebuild, with the next step being the reconstruction of a shrine that was damaged in the earthquake.

The studio had previously created a hat-shaped post-earthquake building for the city of Sōma in 2016.

"That experience left a deep impression on us and shaped our understanding of architecture's social responsibility," Dytham concluded. "Since then, Home for All has continued to evolve, with each project rooted in local culture, participation, and care. "

KDa also recently designed the facade for jewellery brand Cartier's Ginza store.

The video is by Wild Tame.

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