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Container Home amid an Enchanted Forest Garden

By livingasean
June 8, 2021
HOUSES

BANGKOK / Who would have thought, even in the vibrant cosmopolitan neighborhood of Thonglor, that a shipping container home would have pride of place beautifully ensconced in the lush greenery of a midtown forest garden? The area bustled with activity and dominated by highrise condominiums is home to a health-giving tropical oasis. Here, large metal boxes once used for the transportation of goods transform into a charming ensemble and family life center capable of fulfilling several functions.

The rustic building in the garden originated as an add-on to the family’s existing home located a stone’s throw away. It was meant to be used for a limited period of time and hence a shady spot with trees thriving in the microclimate of the landscape. Later on, it was transformed into a new home for the family’s daughter engaged to be married at the time. That was when shipping containers were put in as a garden pavilion in the front yard, an art studio, and other components of the main building at the rear. The front pavilion has become the hub of family life when Mom and Dad drop in for a visit.

The container that serves as front yard pavilion is elevated at a distance above the ground. It’s connected to other functional spaces via a system of passages along the side of the house. The house itself is a steel frame building. The exterior wall on the second floor is made of corrugated sheet metal that blends with the exoskeletal shipping container framework. Crafted of teakwood, the house floor offers a pleasing visual combination that harmonizes with the lush foliage of the landscape. For durability, the balcony and outdoor passages are raised on a framework of steel. They are topped with steel reinforced concrete, while epoxy coatings enhance the beauty of the entire surface.

Open concept interior design comes in handy for a rectangular house plan. The sitting room at the front easily connects to a dining area and a kitchen that’s situated at the farthest end. The shaft in which a staircase is built allows plenty of natural daylight to illuminate the center of the home while serving as engine driving air circulation.

Into the open air, trees that had been planted some time ago were developing well. With years of landscaping experience, the architectural firm Walllasia was able to create a home and art studio that merged seamlessly with the surroundings. It’s now an ecosystem where everything is interconnected, from the sitting room up front to the balcony on the second floor, and beyond. The result is a gorgeous residence embraced by nature, one that evokes pleasant images of a home immersed among rosewood trees.

To prepare the building site, low land was filled to bring it to road level while things that had aesthetic value remained intact. They included climbing plants that grew up arbors and trellises along the fence. Now they offer protection from the mid-afternoon sun and keep the backyard cool. Some of them even thrive on the roof and in the overhanging trees. Where necessary, steel building frames are made strong to provide nearby trees with a firm foundation. For a lightweight look, some outdoor rooms are canopied by high-tension canvas that blends with healthy green foliage.

What’s worth mentioning is that the homeowners are avid pet lovers. Hence, the dwelling place made in a plain and simple fashion is aptly called “Mac and Ham House”, which refers to the two dogs who also live here. Unmistakably, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. It’s happiness that comes from a bond of love and understanding. Currently, plans are afoot to open an in-house art gallery devoted to painted pictures of the beloved man’s best friends.

Text: Samutcha Viraporn
Photo: Sitthisak Namkham
Owner: Jirapa Phornprapha
Architectural / Interior Design: Suriya Umpansiriratana / Walllasia Ltd.
Landscape Design: Suriya Umpansiriratana, Prawit Poolkumlung / Walllasia Ltd.

A Modern Home That’s Quintessentially Thai

By livingasean
May 25, 2021
HOUSES

BANGKOK / The cube shape and flat roof lends a modern air to this white house on the outskirts of Bangkok. Designed for a hot, humid climate, it’s gently calming and comfortable to live without air conditioning. Its contemporary style belies the traditional Thai way of life that’s central to its existence and character. Plus, it shows great attention to detail that makes the house feel warm and welcoming.

Amazing as it may seem, the cube shaped home sits on a narrow lot that’s only 5 meters wide. There’s a small waterway and public walk along the left side of the land. In such situation, the homeowner has to forfeit 3 meters of land along the waterfront to make room for public access as required by law.

The result is a piece of land with a narrow frontage to the street as it is now. And that’s where the design team came in to create a place that’s light and airy yet relying little on air conditioning. The homeowner lives with her elderly mother; hence the new house comes in handy to answer their specific lifestyle needs. For the most part, wood is the building material of choice. Despite its ultramodern architecture, the house plan is the quintessence of the Thai way.

The side of the house that looks out over the public walk gets plenty of fresh air and natural daylight. But it’s also facing west, which means the afternoon sun is much harsher and brighter.

To solve this problem, the design team puts in a perforated metal façade that doubles as an outer shell that helps keep the house cool during daylight hours. The outer shell crafted of steel is painted white to harmonize in color and texture with the nearby boundary fence. It’s a simple yet effective way to overcome a challenge on site.

By design, the house is well ventilated thanks to open concept floor plans both in front and at the rear of the building. There’s nothing to block the winds from the north or the south. Wood stairs with no risers not only allow fresh air to enter and circulate in the interior. They also illuminate the stairwell and nearby areas with natural daylight. The structure is a hybrid of steel beams and joists supported by concrete piles and arranged in an orderly way like traditional Thai architecture in former times. Plus, solid hardwood flooring looks very nice and makes the interior cooler in the summer.

To create warm, beautiful environments, the house floor is made of hardwood on all three levels. As a natural building material, wood evokes positive responses. Plus, it has a substantial impact on the wellbeing of humans in ways that tiles and concrete floors cannot. Meantime, pieces of furniture from the old house are given a new lease on life. They are adapted for use in a different purpose and given a fresh coat of paint that proves a perfect complement to white home decorating ideas.

Showing great attention to detail, the design team ensures the house plan is right for the elderly mother who lives here. To make it easy for her to walk up a flight of stairs, each riser is reduced to just 15 cm (from the average 17 to 18 cm). As a precaution against slip and fall accidents, each stair tread is made deeper than average, thanks to angled risers that provide extra space.

The house fence is made of air bricks painted white. They have holes in them to create an air flow between the property and the public walkway on the other side. The masonry wall has no see-through gaps in it, which offers privacy and protection from unwanted prying eyes. It’s an oasis of calm on the outskirts of the city, thanks to additional green spaces along the fence line adorned with shrubs that thrive in the understory of tall trees.

The farthest end leads to a vegetable garden where Mom spends most of her free time preparing the soil, planting a crop, and nurturing the plants. Backyard vegetable gardening is an ingenious way to live a salubrious life. It not only puts fresh food on the table, but also speaks volumes for their determination to preserve the Thai way of life

Text: Samutcha Viraporn
Photos: Anupong, Hatairat Deenuanpanao
Stylist: Vorawat
Owner: Nopphamas Houbjaruen
Design: Chalermpon Sombutyanuchit (Office Architect9Kampanad)

Grandpa’s New House at the Water’s Edge

By livingasean
April 23, 2021
HOUSES

RATCHABURI / Because memories are made here, Puchong Satirapipatkul of the design firm OTATO Architect built a house for his grandfather Kumnung Yindeesuk. The new home nestles in a coconut grove overlooking Nong Salid Canal that connects to Damnoen Saduak, the bustling little town famous for its Floating Market.

From the beginning, the orchard land was in a clutter of untidiness while the old house was more than 30 years old and impossible to repair. The only way forward was a complete teardown to make room for a new home. The old house provided vintage recycled building materials, which gave Puchong the means to avoid a large cost overrun. Ensconced in a grove of coconut trees, jackfruits, and tamarinds, the single-story house plan is well suited to a 100-sq-wah lot. Plus, it offers a warm, comfortable environment while minimizing costs. To keep within a 700,000-baht budget, the architect used locally sourced building materials and oversaw construction work himself.

To enhance views of the garden, Puchong chose a U-shaped house plan that’s made up of four blocks. Where appropriate, tall well-positioned windows create a stylish look and spacious feel. The result was a pared down tropical home for cool minimalist living. To merge into the landscape, he picked low pitch gable roof systems that blend harmoniously with traditional architecture in the area. Open floor plans maximize space and provide excellent flow from room to room. The front entry and south-facing walls that receive the afternoon sun are built of opaque materials to soak up the day’s heat. For a more comfortable living environment, north-facing walls are open to take in fresh air and beautiful views of the canal.

The south-facing block contains a pantry, work station, and clothes storage closet. For indoor thermal comfort, the north-facing block is protected by an array of vertical fins. Not far away, a viewing platform supported on girders extends from the house to the water’s edge. The vertical louvre fins double as a privacy screen for the bedroom and provide light and breeze control. Together, they make the sitting room, dining room, and small balconies comfortable during daylight hours.

“Adjacent to the U-shaped house plan lies a raised passageway that leads out to a body of water. Functional spaces are carefully thought out. Private residential areas are on the right side, while semi-outdoor spaces for houseguests are on the left,” Puchong explained.

“Among other things, main functional spaces include a living room, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom neatly fitted into a small space. All of them have undisturbed views of the canal. High ceilings paired with tall windows make the house feel bigger, light and airy. To get work done fast, only standard building materials were used. They included ceiling panels, roof tiles, and glass in prefab sizes such as 1.20, 1.60, and 2.40 m. This made it easy for local builders to build, easy to maintain. Plus, it saves money, and reduces waste.”

“Using vertical louvre fins is a technique that gives the house its character. They are architectural features that blend beautifully with the overall design. This is evident in the way every roof rafter is positioned to coincide with the top end of the vertical fin. Although in different sizes, the vertical fins are placed at regular intervals, resulting in a clean and simple exterior.”

Embraced by nature, the house is well planned every step of the way. All elements are arranged in such a way that best accomplishes a particular purpose. More than anything else, it’s about living in peaceful harmony with the land, the water, the trees, even the fireflies. For Puchong, building a retirement home for his beloved Grandpa is the absolutely right thing to do.

Story: Patsiri Chotpongsun
Photography: Soopakorn Srisakul

Quiet Interaction of Nature and Architecture

By livingasean
April 17, 2021
HOUSES

BANGKOK / Attaporn Kobkongsanti, his wife Romanee, and their young son Phumi have moved into their new house, which took six years to design and build. Now it shows a perfect picture, lofty white walls rising above its inspired design and meticulous construction.

“As an architect myself, I imagined a courtyard here. Having worked with Boonlert, I felt our styles were really in sync, and after a few iterations we settled on our fourth design, which is what you see here!” Pok, who is the owner not only of the house, but also TROP Landscape Architects, is referring to Boonlert Hemvijitraphan of Boon Design, his co-designer.

Boonlert adds, “The relationship between the house and nature is always at the core of our design work. The owner’s imagination is what makes this one unique. We began with a set of high walls with the separate spaces between them assigned to different uses. We call this concept ‘series of wall.”

To the architects, “series of wall” is expressed with four very tall walls set in parallel that establish the frame of this 3-storey house. The walls are set between 2.5 and 5 meters apart, protruding out beyond the main body of the house, with varied height and length according to functionality of the spaces between. Floor 1 holds living room, dining area, and kitchen. Husband and wife have a workroom on the 2^nd floor, and bedrooms are on the 3^rd.

The personalities of the in-house gardens differ according to position. At the east entrance we see a mixture of kitchen vegetable and decorative garden they call the “moon garden,” since a moonrise is especially gorgeous from there. Special attention was paid to its beauty, as it is the first garden we see when getting out of the car and the last before leaving.

Next we encounter a triangular courtyard, inserted in the living room! This is an architectural artifice to bring light into a darker area. It opens the living room right out on the swimming pool and at the same time welcomes us into the room, creating an intriguing space facing both inward and outward.

Closing off areas between walls before assigning them functions as rooms gave the look of, as the architects put it, “putting people in the in-between spaces.” Areas of use are rectangular, enclosed lengthwise between the walls. The front and rear of the house are all floor-to-ceiling clear glass, for a free, airy feeling everywhere, the natural world outside shining through into the home. The walls are thick, blocking the sun’s heat from the north and south. The glass sides bring in the sun’s natural light as it moves from east to west, keeping the house bright and cheerful all day.

The walls also facilitate inner courtyards that are part and parcel of the livable space and bring the outside garden in, using the owner’s unique talents and experience to incorporate landscape architecture into the building itself.

“This wasn’t easy,” said Pok. “We wanted it all, here, there, everywhere, but when you do it you always worry it might be too much! We went back and forth, and in end we chose the most orderly form.”

In the kitchen there’s yet another large courtyard. This one helps draw light and clean air into the various rooms from the topmost down to the ground floor, and connects with a forest garden behind the house to the west. Between house and fence is a copse of trees that filters the afternoon sun, a space used just to relax, or perhaps for a party.

The L-shaped swimming pool is landscaped in with a neat wooden porch that fits perfectly with the tall trees Pok has freely planted all about. This garden also connects to the living room through a large clear glass door, creating even more unity between indoors and outdoors.

The house glass reflects the darker forested area in a wavy green. Our landscape architect compares it to an abstract painting by nature itself, saying it took away any need for hanging pictures on the walls, which are bare, like a white canvas, waiting for nature as the single artist to brush it with light.

Story: Korakot Lordkam
Photography: Soopakorn, Nantiya

Renovation Adds Sunny Personality to “Nobita House”

By livingasean
April 8, 2021
HOUSES

BANGKOK / Here’s the story of a home renovation done right. Cherishing memories of the good old days, Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul recently had grandma and grandpa’s house restored to its former glory. They sought advice from Jun Sekino of Jun Sekino A+D, who turned it into a beautifully crafted home with added personality and character.

Sharing his renovation ideas, Jun Sekino said: “After having talked with the homeowners, we were determined to keep the front-gable house plan very much intact. Several inspection visits in the ensuing days also gave me some ideas to do it right. It was like a journey back in time to preserve all its 1940’s splendor.”

Here’s the story of a home renovation done right. Cherishing memories of the good old days, Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul recently had grandma and grandpa’s house restored to its former glory. They sought advice from Jun Sekino of Jun Sekino A+D, who turned it into a beautifully crafted home with added personality and character.Here’s the story of a home renovation done right. Cherishing memories of the good old days, Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul recently had grandma and grandpa’s house restored to its former glory. They sought advice from Jun Sekino of Jun Sekino A+D, who turned it into a beautifully crafted home with added personality and character. — The old house before renovation.

The 80-year-old house soon transformed into a new home that’s more warm and inviting. It’s aptly named “Nobita House” after the much-loved, fictional boy character in the 1970’s cartoon series “Doraemon”. In the fewest possible words, it’s about rebuilding for a better future.

Restoring the old house to a good state of repair, the architect made sure the original framework was not damaged or impaired in any way. Thanks to collaboration with a team of structural engineers, the carport was reinforced to make it capable of accommodating two vehicles side by side. The front façade was built of reclaimed timber from the old house installed vertically with protective finishes over the top to protect it from the elements.

The gable roof was improved using new material and sloping at an angle that’s proper under the circumstances. To make room for a higher ceiling, the second floor was built 1.50 meters taller than the original plan. On the ground floor, suspended panels were removed to reveal awesome ceilings with exposed wood beams. At the same time, wood windows and extra units of construction were added on to increase the floor space from 100 to 300 square meters.

Where appropriate, a system of micropiles was erected to carry an additional load. The covered shelter in front of the entrance was enlarged, while the side of the house reserved for shoe storage connected conveniently to the carport. Meantime, fully open layouts translate into better natural light and ample space for social cohesiveness. On one side, the exterior glass wall looks out over a backyard garden. On another lies a corridor leading to a small courtyard at the rear.

Thanks to open floor plans, the interior living spaces are easy on the eye. White walls with stained wood trim paired with natural light streaming in through the overhead transom create the illusion of a larger space. Nearby, white screens and Terrazzo floors combine to add vintage touches to home décor. Meanwhile, structural components made of steel, if any, are painted white to blend harmoniously with light backgrounds.

The second floor contains workspace with wood windows that evoke memories of years past. Wall paneling is flush with adjoining post and beam construction. The door frame with overhead transom is glazed using patterned glass. Not far away lies the restful master bedroom that’s furnished in a simple style. The old living quarters for house workers accessible by a mosaic walkway remain intact. It’s separated from a nearby outdoor laundry room by steel railing along the edge.

There are tall buildings nearby, while the house ground level is lower than the street. To effectively drain rainwater from the yard, decorative landscaping gravel is used. This is where garden designer Premrudee Cheewakoseth comes into play and where possible turns the ground into beautiful Japanese rock gardens.

Trees that are planted for shade include Jackfruit and bamboo, while Mini Mondo Grass or Sneak Beard provides a lush ground covering. To avoid looking too Japanese, small terraces with garden path are put in. Overall, the house boasts certain appeal similar to that of the house of “Nobita”, the much-loved, fictional boy character in the famous cartoon series “Doraemon”.

Design: Jun Sekino A+D
Landscape design: D.garden design by Premrudee Cheewakoseth
Owners: Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul
Story: Samutcha Viraporn
Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul
Style: Suanpuk Stylist

Kampong House the Allure of Indonesia’s Urban Village Life

By livingasean
March 29, 2021
HOUSES

CIMAHI, WEST JAVA / For an Indonesian family, life in an urban kampong is a beautiful journey. Aquino Krishadi and Elis Rosmiati lived for some time in a medium-density urban kampong, which is Indonesian for village. The positive feeling that they cherish is brought with them as they move into a new home in Cimahi, roughly ten minutes’ drive from Bandung Metropolis in West Java.

Their new house is designed by Ismail Solehudin of Ismail Solehudin Architecture. Reflecting the Indonesian village experience, the siding materials that enclose and divide interior living spaces are made of rigid PVC sheets mixed with brick masonry. It’s a creative way to build, plus it provides excellent toughness and good moisture resistance.

Made for living green in a small space, the new dwelling is aptly named “Kampong in House” for the character and real certain appeal of village life that gave them the inspiration.

Sharing hispoints of view, Ismail Solehudin said that the design was based on the client experience from having lived in an urban village, plus their interest in a sustainable way of living, albeit in a small space. In so doing, hetranslated these ideas into a coherent distribution of masses and expertly crafted houseplan that divides the interior and exterior spaces.

The front of the house features an eclectic mix of items and decorations ubiquitous among urban villages across Indonesia. They include different textures and materials that come together in an untidy way. Among them are ornaments such as window box planters, skylights, gardenareas and unfilled spaces in the wall that drive natural ventilation.

Commenting on a hybrid of brickwork and PVC sheets, Ismail said that PVC is strong and durable, which explains why it’sone of the most widely used thermoplastic polymers worldwide. Here, it’s used on the façade to protect against damage from too much sun and rain. Meantime, exposed brick walls provide great opportunities to experiment with various textures and patterns. The break in the wall allows fresh air to enter and circulate in the interior, a perfect solution for houses in a tropical climate.

Step inside, and you come to anopen area with green space that’s an essential room in the house. It conveniently connects to a plant-filled living room, kitchen, and a large backyard garden. In all places, unfilled spaces in the wall and green areascreate microclimatesthat differ from those in the surrounding areas. Plus, they allow natural light and improve air circulation at the same time.

Cocooned in a comforting way, bedrooms are slightly hidden from view reachable via an interior corridor lined with functions that serve practical purposes, among them a bar table and a few book shelves.

All things considered, it’s a designthat promotes interactions among family members without intruding into their lives. It turns expertly crafted design into a home where living green isn’t just helping the environment or better quality of life. It’s also a way to bring you back in time and experience the Indonesian way of life as it’s always been.

The House Plan & Section

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Story: Living ASEAN
Design: Ismail Solehudin Architecture
Photography: Mario Wibowo

Modern Skinny House on a Narrow Lot

By livingasean
February 12, 2021
HOUSES

The homegrown architecture firm SAWADEESIGN applied innovative aircraft cabin ideas to give this narrow townhouse a complete makeover. The small family home sits sandwiched between two low-rise buildings in the heart of Tan Binh District. They named the project “303 House.”

Townhouse is a typical housing type omnipresent throughout urban Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. By law, places of residence with a frontage smaller than 3.0 meters are not permitted to have more than one floor.

So the only way to build is arrange all the usable spaces and functions on the same horizontal plane. The result is a renovation done right in every sense of the word.

From the outside looking in, the entire width of the house is only 2.9 meters. With the exterior walls installed, the inside space comes to just 2.7 meters wide.

Interestingly enough, well thought-out design turns an awkward narrow plot into a single-story home that’s simple with all useable spaces giving off good vibes. The bright and airy home occupies less than 90 square meters of land.

The design duo, Doan Si Nguyen and Vo Thanh Phat, decided against the most commonly used construction process. They proposed an alternative method aimed at reducing the amount of concrete used, an option that risked being rejected by investors from the get-go.

The house ceiling is made of rockwool tole about 150 mm thick. The coated tinplate is widely used in the storage industry and large warehouses for its excellent thermal insulation. Here, it’s used to make the interior living spaces comfortable day and night.

The contemporary home interior features mixed materials. Among them, grey plaster on the wall proves a perfect complement to gray epoxy paint on the floor.

Together, they provide desirable elements for a calm, peaceful home. Everywhere, furniture made of plywood is a great way to bring a natural look to the interior.

According to the architects, the secret to creating a healthy home lies in putting multiple layers of functional spaces in neat order to shield the interior from the busy street.

This is especially true in HCMC, where many homes are prone to suffer from the negative effects of outside noise and unrestricted growth of housing areas and commercial development.

Fascinatingly, aircraft cabin ideas came in handy for the townhouse built on an extremely long and narrow plot of land. It’s reminiscent to walking along an aisle between rows of seats on an aircraft.

There’s a paved outdoor area in front of the house entrance that provides a place to socialize. Step inside, and you come into a corridor connecting to a living area, kitchen, and laundry room. Wall-mounted storage cabinets line one side of the aisle and beautifully organized functional spaces on the other.

Two bedrooms with a bathroom attached are tucked away further inside, plus a third at the rear of the house accessible by a small corridor with relaxing area. Where appropriate, clear roofing panels provide natural light for indoor plants, while openings in the wall keep the interior airy and comfortable without air conditioning.

Not only is the house plan tailored to the specific needs of a family of three. It’s also a great way to live a green life in the midst of the city. Here, in many instances homeowners rent the space in front of their houses to small retailers and businesses. But the residents at 303 House don’t need that kind of income.

They prefer to keep the door closed and enjoy privacy in the comfort of their home. All things considered, it’s mission accomplished.

Design: SAWADEESIGN / https://www.sawadeesign.net
Lead Architects: Doan Si Nguyen and Vo Thanh Phat
Story: The Architects x Nawapat Dusdul
Photography: Quang Tran / http://quangdam.com

Country Villa Breathes in the Energy of Nature

By livingasean
January 31, 2021
HOUSES

EN / MM

An intimate country hideaway affords a view of sugarcane fields and the lush forests of Khaoyai National Park. It sits ensconced in the misty morning mountain landscape that “Pod” Thanachai Ujjin, lead singer/song writer of the Moderndog band, calls home. His favorite hangout is a platform on the outside of the house, where he likes to sit under moonlight at 2 in the morning. Precisely, nature is on his doorstep.

Characteristic of modern tropical architecture, the house is spacious, light and breezy. The homeowner likens it to the calm and peaceful Thai temple pavilion. The brainchild of Nattapak Phatanapromchai of Erix Design Concepts, the minimalist home is aptly named “Villa Sati”, literally “House of Consciousness”, to communicate the state of being awake and aware of one’s surroundings.

Touched by moonlight and the starry sky, it has a roofed platform along the outside of the house that’s perfect for walking meditation, which the artist and his Mom often do together as family. Sharing his little piece of paradise, Pod said: “After moving out here, I feel as if there were more hours in the day. I rise early to go jogging, read, listen to music, and write songs.”

Their country retreat is made for a simple and peaceful life. Here, the artist and his Mom have plenty of time for their favorite pastimes – art making. The house plan is well thought out. Gable roof design proves a perfect complement to the platforms along the outside, while gorgeous open floorplans increase natural light and bring the outdoors into the home.

Come in through the front door, and you find the stand-alone Butterfly Stool, a 1954 icon of Japanese industrial design by Sori Yanagi. The bedroom that looks out over the field is on the right. Straight ahead is the kitchenette that connects to a living area that doubles as multipurpose room. Nearby, a set of stairs with dark clapboard siding leads to the attic that the artist has turned into a bedroom. The farthest end of the house is open to let southeasterly winds enter, a great way to ventilate the entire home. From here, the rolling sugarcane fields and mountains beyond can be seen in full view.

Floating furniture is an easy hack to establish zones in open spaces and create traffic flow in the room. Modular storage cabinets from USM have the most prominent position alongside wall-mounted abstract art by Tae Pavit and a few painted pictures by Pod’s Mom.

Commenting on design details, architect Nattapak Phatanapromchai said the platforms along the outside of the house afford beautiful panoramic views of the lush mountain landscape. Large openings in the walls allow fresh air to enter, creating air flow and bringing down ambient temperature to the point there’s no need for air conditioning.

Meantime, the gable roof with long overhangs protects the platforms along the outside from the elements. The architect did away with the fascia, wooden boards covering the ends of rafters, to highlight the framework supporting the roof as was the case with the Thai style of residential architecture. Roof shingles are reminiscent of ancient tiles made beautiful by special paint for a real custom effect, while cement board deck or sheathing is installed underneath to protect against leaks.

House framing for the most part consists of wood, while framed glass wall systems stand tall from the threshold to the tie beam supporting the roof. The secret to a neat and tidy house plan lies in the side posts of every doorway and glass wall frame aligning with gable-end studs both when the door is open and shut. The result is a beautiful country house with clean design in the midst of scenic surroundings.

The house superstructure is built of Ta-khian timber, scientific name: Hopea odorata, a species of large trees native to Southeast Asia. Elevated 1.80 meters above ground level, the floorboard rests on steel reinforced concrete framing that’s a load-bearing foundation. The stilt house design that’s ubiquitous in tropical climates provides ventilation under the floor, a brilliant way to keep the home cool all year round. By and large, it’s a perfect example of traditional Thai house design, one that’s easy to look at and comfortable to live in.

The homeowner wrapped it up nicely. “I like the relative smallness of the house and surrounding open spaces. They’ve had a significant impact on human minds. For me, it gives vitality and enthusiasm. It fills my life with laughter and inspires exciting new ideas. It just so happens. Once I have an idea that I think has real potential, the rest is easy. Lyrics for a number of songs were written right here in this humble abode. The wide open spaces of the countryside are hugely rewarding for me as an artist.”

Story: Samutcha Viraporn
Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul

သဘာဝတရား၏စွမ်းအင်ကိုရှူရှိုက်ရာ ကျေးလက်အိမ် (Burmese Version)

By baangroup
January 31, 2021
HOUSES

EN / MM

သဘာဝတရား၏စွမ်းအင်ကိုရှူရှိုက်ရာ
ကျေးလက်VILLAအိမ်

ရင်းနှီးဖော်ရွေတဲ့ ကျေးလက်ဒေသက ဒီအိမ်လေးက ခေါင်ယိုင်အမျိုးသားဥယျာဉ်ရဲ့ စိမ်းမြမြသစ်တောတွေနဲ့ ကြံခင်းတွေရဲ့ရှုမြင်ကွင်းနဲ့ ပနံတင့်နေပါတယ်။
Moderndog ဂီတအဖွဲ့ရဲ့အဆိုတော်/သီချင်းရေးသူဖြစ်တဲ့ “ပေါ့ဒ်”ထနာချိုင်အော့ဂျင်က နားခိုရာအိမ်လို့ခေါ်တဲ့ ဒီအိမ်က နံနက်ခင်းတွေမှာ မြူနှင်းတွေရစ်သိုင်းနေတတ်တဲ့ တောင်ရှုခင်းလေးထဲမှာ တည်ရှိနေတာပါ။
သူရဲ့အနှစ်သက်ဆုံးနေရာက အိမ်အပြင်ဘက် ကပြင်နေရာကျယ်ဖြစ်ပြီး လသာညတွေမှာ နံနက် ၂နာရီလောက်ထိ ထိုင်နေချင်တဲ့နေရာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ သဘာဝတရားက သူရဲ့အိမ်တံခါးပေါက်ဝမှာတင်
ရှိနေတာ အသေအချာပါပဲ။

မော်ဒန်အပူပိုင်းဒေသဗိသုကာရဲ့ဝိသေသလက္ခဏာအနေနဲ့ အိမ်ကလင်းထင်းကျယ်ဝန်းပြီး လေဝင် လေထွက်ကောင်းတဲ့ပုံစံဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အိမ်ရှင်တွေက ထိုင်းကျောင်းတော်တွေလို ဆိတ်ငြိမ်အေးချမ်းရာနေရာ လေးကို ဖန်တီးချင်တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ Erix Design Conceptsက နက်တာပက်ဖတနာပရုမ်ချိုင်ရဲ့ ဖန်တီးမှုဖြစ် ပြီး ပစ္စည်းတွေအနည်းပါးဆုံးနဲ့ ရှင်းလင်းနေတဲ့ ဒီအိမ်လေးကို “Villa Sati”လို့အမည်ပေးထားပြီး အဓိပ္ပာယ် အားဖြင့်တော့ “သတိနေအိမ်”၊ သိရှိနိုးကြားမှုနဲ့တစ်စုံတစ်ဦးရဲ့ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ကို သတိပြုမိမှုဆိုတဲ့အခြေအနေ ဆိုတာကို ဖော်ပြနေတဲ့အိမ်လို့ ဆိုလိုတာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

လရောင်ဖြာကျနေပြီး ကြယ်ရောင်စုံတောက်ပနေတဲ့မိုးကောင်းကင်ထိစပ်နေတဲ့အိမ်ခေါင်မိုးက အိမ် အပြင်ဘက်မှာရှိတဲ့ ကပြင်နေရာတလျှောက်မိုးကာပေးထားပြီး ဒီကပြင်နေရာက လမ်းလျှောက်တရားမှတ် ဖို့ရာအတွက် အကောင်းဆုံးဖြစ်ကာ အဆိုတော်နဲ့သူရဲ့အမေတို့ မိသားစုအတူတကွလုပ်ဆောင်လေ့ရှိတာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ သူရဲ့သုခဘုံလေးကိုမျှဝေရင်းကနေ ပေါ့ဒ်က “ဒီကိုပြောင်းလာပြီးတဲ့နောက်ပိုင်း နေ့ဘက်တွေ မှာ အချိန်တွေပိုများလာသလို ခံစားရပါတယ်။ နံနက်အစောထပြီးပြေးတယ်၊ စာဖတ်တယ်၊ သီချင်းတွေ နားထောင်ပြီး သီချင်းတွေရေးဖြစ်တယ်” လို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။

သူတို့ရဲ့ကျေးလက်အပန်းဖြေစံအိမ်လေးက ရိုးရှင်းပြီးအေးချမ်းသာယာတဲ့ဘ၀လေး ဖန်တီးပေးပါ တယ်။ ဒီအိမ်မှာ အဆိုတော်နဲ့သူရဲ့အမေက သူတို့ဝါသနာပါရာဖြစ်တဲ့ အနုပညာဖန်တီးမှုအတွက် အချိန်တွေ အများကြီး ရပါတယ်။ အိမ်ရဲ့အဆောက်အအုံပုံစံက ကောင်းစွာစဉ်းစားထားတဲ့ပုံစံဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ခေါင်မိုးရဲ့ မြင်းမိုရ်ပိတ်ဒီဇိုင်းက အိမ်အပြင်ဘက်ကပြင်နေရာနဲ့ အကောင်းဆုံးဖြည့်စွက်မှုအဖြစ် သက်သေပြနေပြီး ကျယ်ပြန့်ပွင့်လင်းတဲ့ ကြမ်းခင်းပုံစံကလည်း သဘာဝအလင်းရောင်ပိုရစေပြီး အပြင်ဘက်နေရာတွေကို အိမ် ထဲထိဆောင်ကြဉ်းလာတဲ့ ကျက်သရေရှိတဲ့ပုံစံဖြစ်ပါတယ်။

အိမ်ရှေ့တံခါးကနေဝင်လာလိုက်မယ်ဆိုရင် လိပ်ပြာပုံစံခွေးခြေခုံတစ်လုံးကို မြင်တွေ့မှာဖြစ်ပြီး ဒါ က ၁၉၅၄ ခုနှစ်က ဆိုရီယာနာဂီရဲ့ ဂျပန်စက်မှုဒီဇိုင်းလက်ရာပုံစံတစ်ခုပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ကွင်းပြင်ကိုမြင် တွေ့နေရတဲ့ အိပ်ခန်းကတော့ ညာဘက်ခြမ်းမှာတည်ရှိပါတယ်။ အရှေ့တောင်လေဝင်နိုင်စေဖို့ အိမ်ရဲ့အစွန် ဆုံးဘက်နေရာ ကိုဖွင့်ထားပေးတာကိုတွေ့ရပြီး တစ်အိမ်လုံးကိုလေဝင်လေထွက်ကောင်းစေမယ့် နည်းလမ်း ကောင်းဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ဒီနေရာကနေပြီးတော့ အနောက်ဘက်က ကြံတောနဲ့တောင်တွေအထပ်လိုက်ရှိနေတဲ့ ရှုခင်းကိုမြင်ကွင်းအပြည့်နဲ့မြင်တွေ့ခံစားနိုင်ပါတယ်။

လေထဲလွင့်နေပုံမျိုး ထုထည်သေးငယ်တဲ့ပရိဘောဂက ကျယ်ပြောတဲ့နေရာတွေမှာ နယ်မြေဇုန်လေး တွေအဖြစ် အလွယ်တကူပိုင်းကန့်ပေးသလိုဖြစ်စေပြီး အခန်းထဲဝင်ထွက်သွားလာမှု ချောမွေ့လွယ်ကူစေဖို့ ဖန်တီးပေးပါတယ်။ USMက မော်ဂျူလာဘီရိုခန်းတွေကလည်း ပေါ့ဒ်ရဲ့အမေရေးဆွဲထားတဲ့ ပန်းချီကားတွေ နဲ့ ထယ်ပါဗစ်ရဲ့စိတ္တဇပန်းချီကားချိတ်ဆွဲထားရာ နံရံတလျှောက်ရဲ့ဘေးဘက်က ထင်ရှားပေါ်လွင်မှု အရှိဆုံး တည်နေရာမှာ ရှိနေပါတယ်။

ဒီဇိုင်းပုံအသေးစိတ်ကို မှတ်ချက်ပြောကြားရာမှာတော့ ဗိသုကာပညာရှင် နက်တာပက်ဖတနာ ပရုမ်ချိုင်က အိမ်ရဲ့အပြင်ဘက်မှာရှိတဲ့ကပြင်တွေက သာယာလှပပြီး စိမ်းစိုနေတဲ့တောင်ရှုခင်းရဲ့ ရင်သပ် ရှုမောဖွယ်မြင်ကွင်းကျယ်တွေကို မြင်တွေ့ခံစားရစေတဲ့နေရာတွေဖြစ်ပါတယ်လို့ ဆိုပါတယ်။ နံရံတွေမှာ ကြီးမားတဲ့အဖွင့်ပုံစံတွေက လတ်ဆတ်တဲ့လေကိုဝင်ရောက်စေပြီး လေစီးဆင်းမှုကောင်းအောင်ဖန်တီးပေး ကာ အိမ်ရဲ့ဝန်းကျင်ကအပူတွေကို လျှော့ချပေးတာကြောင့် လေအေးပေးစက်ဖွင့်စရာမလိုတော့ပါဘူး။

တစ်ချိန်တည်းမှာပဲ ခေါင်မိုးမြင်းမိုရ်ပိတ်ကနေတွဲချထားတဲ့ အမိုးကာတွေက အိမ်အပြင်ဘက်မှာ ရှိတဲ့ ကပြင်နေရာတွေကို လေဒဏ်မိုးဒဏ်ကနေ ကာကွယ်ပေးထားပါတယ်။ အိမ်အမိုးဒိုင်းတွေရဲ့ အဆုံးသတ်မှာ ပိတ်ပြီးဖုံးအုပ်ရတဲ့ သစ်သားဘုတ်ပြားတွေကိုလည်း ဗိသုကာကဖယ်ထားလိုက်ပြီး ထိုင်း စတိုင်လ်လူနေအဆောက်အအုံဗိသုကာပုံစံနဲ့ အမိုးကိုထောက်ကန်ထားတဲ့ဘောင်တွေကို ထင်ရှားအောင် ပြုလုပ်ပေးထားပါတယ်။ ခေါင်မိုးပြားတွေကိုတော့ ရှေးဟောင်းအမိုးပြားတွေပုံစံ ပြန်ပြောင်းထည့်သွင်း ပေးထားပြီး တကယ့်ဓလေ့ထုံးတမ်း လက်ရာပုံစံလိုမျိုးလှပနေစေဖို့ အထူးသုတ်ဆေးနဲ့ဖန်တီးပေးထား ပါတယ်။ မိုးယိုတာမျိုးကနေ ကာကွယ်ပေးဖို့အတွက် ကွန်ကရစ်ဘုတ်ပြားနဲ့အောက်ကနေခံပြီး တပ်ဆင် ပေးထားပါတယ်။

အိမ်ရဲ့ဘောင်တွေအများစုမှာ သစ်သားဘောင်တွေဖြစ်ပြီး ခေါင်မိုးကိုထောက်ကန်ထားတဲ့ရက်မက နေ ခြေခုံဘောင်အထိတိုင် ဘောင်ကွပ်ထားတဲ့မှန်နံရံစနစ်တွေကိုပါ ထည့်သွင်းပေးထားပါတယ်။ သပ်ရပ်ပြီး ရှင်းလင်းတဲ့အိမ်ပုံစံရဲ့လျှို့ဝှက်ချက်ကတော့ တံခါးလျှောက်လမ်းတိုင်းရဲ့ ဘေးဘက်ကတိုင်တွေနဲ့ မှန်နံရံ ဘောင်တွေက တံခါးကိုပိတ်ထားတဲ့အခါမှာရော၊ ဖွင့်ထားတဲ့အခါမှာပါ အမိုးရဲ့မြင်းမိုရ်ပိတ်အဆုံးသတ်တွေ နဲ့ တပြေးတည်းတန်းလျက်ရှိနေတာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ရလဒ်အနေနဲ့ သာယာတဲ့မြင်ကွင်းဝန်းကျင်တွေအလယ် မှာ ရှင်းလင်းတဲ့ဒီဇိုင်းလေးနဲ့ လှပတဲ့ကျေးလက်အိမ်လေးတစ်ခု ဖြစ်လာရပါတယ်။

အိမ်ရဲ့အထူးဖွဲ့စည်းပုံကို Ta-khian သစ် (သိပ္ပံအမည်- Hopea odorata) နဲ့တည်ဆောက်ထားတာ ဖြစ်ပြီး အရှေ့တောင်အာရှရဲ့ဇာတိဖြစ်တဲ့အပင်ကြီးမျိုးဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ မြေပြင်ကနေ ၁.၈၀ မီတာအထိ မြှင့်ထားပေးတဲ့ ကြမ်းခင်းပြားကတော့ ဝန်ခံနိုင်တဲ့အောက်ခံဖြစ်တဲ့သံကူကွန်ကရစ်ဘောင်တွေပေါ်မှာ ရှိနေ တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အပူပိုင်းရာသီဥတုဒေသတွေမှာ ဒီလိုခြေတိုင်ရှည်အိမ်ဒီဇိုင်းမျိုးတွေကို မြင်ရလေ့ရှိပြီး ဒီပုံစံက ကြမ်းခင်းအောက် လေဝင်လေထွက်ကောင်းစေတာကြောင့် အိမ်ကိုတစ်နှစ်ပတ်လုံးအေးမြနေစေ မယ့် အထူးနည်းလမ်းဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ကြီးမားကျယ်ဝန်းတာက ထိုင်းရိုးရာအိမ်ပုံစံတွေရဲ့ပြီးပြည့်စုံတဲ့ဥပမာပုံစံ လည်းဖြစ်နေတာကြောင့် ကြည့်ကောင်းတဲ့အပြင် နေရထိုင်ရတာလည်း သက်သောင့်သက်သာရှိစေပါတယ်။

အဆုံးသတ်မှာတော့ အိမ်ပိုင်ရှင်က “ဒီအိမ်ရဲ့ရှင်းလင်းနည်းပါးတဲ့ပုံစံနဲ့ ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်အဖွင့်နေရာ တွေကို သဘောကျပါတယ်။ ဒါတွေက လူတွေရဲ့စိတ်ကို ထူးခြားတဲ့သက်ရောက်မှုရှိစေပါတယ်။ ကျွန်တော့် အတွက်ကတော့ ဒီအိမ်က ရှင်သန်မှုနဲ့ စိတ်အားထက်သန်မှုကိုပေးစွမ်းပါတယ်။ ကျွန်တော့်ဘဝကို ရယ်မော မှုတွေဖြည့်စွမ်းပေးပြီး စိတ်လှုပ်ရှားဖွယ်ရာစိတ်ကူးဥာဏ်သစ်တွေကို ကွန့်မြူးစေပါတယ်။ ဒီလိုပဲဖြစ်လာ တာပါ။ ကျွန်တော့်မှာ စိတ်ကူးတစ်ခုရလိုက်ပြီဆိုတာနဲ့ ဒါကတကယ့်ကိုအလားအလာရှိပြီး ကျန်တဲ့အပိုင်းက တော့လွယ်ကူသွားပါတယ်။ သီချင်းအပုဒ်ရေများစွာရဲ့ တေးစာသားတွေကို အေးချမ်းတဲ့ဒီအိမ်လေးမှာ ရေး သားခဲ့တာပါ။ ကျယ်ပြောလှတဲ့ ကျေးလက်ဒေသက ဒီအိမ်လေးက အနုပညာရှင်တစ်ဦးဖြစ်တဲ့ ကျွန်တော့် အတွက် ကြီးမားတဲ့ဆုလာဘ်ပါပဲ” လို့ ပြောသွားခဲ့ပါတယ်။

Story: Samutcha Viraporn
Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul

Modern Thai House Exudes Old World Charm

By livingasean
January 27, 2021
HOUSES

A duplex house design by EAST Architect avails natural light, sun and air flow to provide indoor thermal comfort that’s the hallmark of the ultimate tropical design.

One wing is a semi-outdoor living space roofed over with ceramic shingles in a timeless shade of white. It’s made almost entirely of wood with a balcony and the Thai-style underfloor space high enough for additional uses. The other wing boasts the stylistic characteristics of the postmodern era. To make the most of natural light, the external walls are made of glass. Upstairs a straight passageway connecting individual rooms leads to a cantilevered addition that extends 6 meters supported by a V-shaped steel rigid frame – an unusual approach to lightweight house design.

The upper covering of a living wing is made of steel reinforced concrete slabs. The gable roof that rises above them is topped with corrugated aluminum panels to allow light to pass through. This keeps the modern tropical home well-lit by day and glowing with light and color by night. No wonder they call it “Baan Hing Hoy”, literally translated “Fireflies House”.

A piece of architecture representing the nexus between Eastern and Western cultures, Fireflies House is a design that merges Modern and Traditional in a tropical home. The house plan doesn’t sit parallel to the road in front of it. Neither does it align with property boundary lines. Rather, it’s designed to respond to wind direction and the sun’s path across the sky. That pretty much summarizes the design concept embraced by two assistant professors, Pirast Pacharaswate and Sayanee Virochrut, of EAST Architect. The design duo prides themselves on being “architects of tropical rainforests”.

Together they turned a wish into reality. The homeowner, Mr. Thanawat Yongsanguanchai, wanted to build a house for a big family, a place to spend more time in nature. He was looking for a light and airy house plan, one that’s comfortable without air conditioning. The architects responded by using a lot of natural building materials. The result was a well-thought-out design that made people feel as if they were tunneling their way into another world hidden at the rear of the property.

“In essence the design takes into account basic human needs and the culture in which people live. The relationship between culture and climate is one of the inevitabilities of life. It’s for this reason that the house is built with knowledge of the climate in mind,” said architect Pirast Pacharaswate.

“We think up contradictory thoughts when designing the duplex house plan. The kids belong to a new generation, but their living wing boasts certain features that are characteristic of traditional Thai style. This is contrary to the design of the parents wing, which is evidence of a new language of architecture. It sits under a roof that glows with light and color, which bespeaks the postmodern discipline of art. The upper covering of the parents wing is made of steel reinforced concrete slabs. The gable roof that rises above them doesn’t function as roof in a proper way.”

“It’s our intention to present a Thai-style house under the gable roof that many consider as old-fashioned. So we use a modern building material instead. The result is a roof that’s topped with corrugated aluminum panels. It looks light, airy and very noticeable with an entirely new perception.”

“We learned through conversation that the homeowner preferred white, and responded with a house plan in shades of white. The children’s wing gives a powerful impression of being Thai. It’s protected by ceramic roof shingles in the lightest shade. Wood is the main building material here. Although metal is part of roof framing, the skill and craftsmanship is Thai style. The living spaces are linked by a roofed platform along the outside of the house, unlike the parents wing where spaces are connected via corridors that bespeak modern design.”

The children’s wing is designed for semi-outdoor living, thanks to the veranda and spacious Thai-style underfloor spaces. Proceed to the parents wing, and you come into a glass-enclosed room that’s a great way to bring the beauty of the outdoors inside. A straight corridor connects individual areas and functions reminiscent of Western-style house plans.

The ground floor has pantries and a dining area with sitting room. It’s dominated by a long dining table that’s custom-made. The upper floor contains mom and dad’s bedroom that projects horizontally into space. Glass walls pour natural light into the room that’s embraced by nature.

There’s a multifunctional room with wood décor ideas. An array of alternating plain and hand carved wood cabinets ooze the charm and poise of Thai style.

The upstairs bedroom projects 6 meters into space, supported by a V-shaped steel rigid frame for a lightweight look. Floor-to-ceiling glass wall systems afford views of the landscape. Not all ceilings are horizontal. Above, the children’s bedroom boasts a ceiling that slopes in agreement with the gable roof. The front side under the gable is open to bring natural brightness inside, while accent wall ideas behind the headboard fill the room in style. There’s something quintessentially Thai in the other bedroom where the platform bed frame is wider than the mattress, an easy hack to create space for wedge pillows and the triangle pillow that’s unique to Thai culture.

“To create a good first impression, an architectural space has to be a noticeable new phenomenon. Hence, a garden passageway is designed for people to recognize what’s unique about ceramic roof shingles as they approach the house from various distances, each resulting in different impressions. Psychologically, humans and architecture interact with each other all the time. Circulation, or human movement in and around a piece of architecture, constitutes an interaction. It’s interactive experience that creates an awareness and evokes admiration of architectural beauty,” said architect Pirast Pacharaswate.

This modern home under the gable roof evokes admiration through design and the power of storytelling about the architectural design concept that integrates traditional values, longing for nature, and great aesthetic pleasure to form a coherent whole.

Design: EAST architect / www.eastarchitects.com
Owner: Mr. Thanawat Yongsanguanchai
Story: Sarayut Sreetip-ard
Photography: Soopakorn Srisakul, Wasin Pummarin
Styling: Suanpuk stylist

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