HOUSE / Living ASEAN - Inspiring Tropical Lifestyle

A Renovation Project Adds Sunny Personality to “Nobita House”

By livingasean
April 8, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul / Styling: Suanpuk Stylist /

Cherishing fond memories of the good old days, Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul recently had their 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 known as “Nobita House.”

Jun Sekino, sharing his renovation ideas, 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. — Flashback: The picture of the old house before renovation. / Courtesy Jun Sekino A+D

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 weather conditions prevailing in this region. 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 micro-piles, aka root piles, was installed 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 now connected conveniently to the carport.

Meantime, fully open layouts translated 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. At the same time, structural components made of steel, if any, are painted white to blend harmoniously with light backgrounds.

Climb a flight of stairs, and you come to the second floor containing workspace with wood windows that evoke pleasant 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 is a challenge to overcome though. Tall buildings rise 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 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 a 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”.

Owner: Chatchawan and Punjama Lertbutsayanukul

Architect: Jun Sekino A+D

Landscape Designer: D.garden design by Premrudee Cheewakoseth

Visit the original Thai version…

รีโนเวตบ้านเก่า 80 ปี มาเป็น บ้านโนบิตะ แสนอบอุ่น

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Kampong House: The Allure of Indonesia’s Urban Village Life

By livingasean
March 29, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Cimahi, Indonesia /

/ Story: Nawapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Mario Wibowo /

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 village. The positive feeling that they cherished was brought with them as they moved into their new home in Cimahi, roughly ten minutes’ drive from Bandung Metropolis in West Java.

The chic new home is designed by Ismail Solehudin, of Ismail Solehudin Architecture. Reflecting the Indonesian kampong 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.

The term kampongs, also spelled kampoongs, or kampungs, refers to traditional villages with stilt houses in the Indonesian archipelago.

Made for living green in a small space, the new dwelling is aptly named “Kampoong-In-House” for its character and real certain appeal of village life that provides the architect and the family with invaluable inspiration. In essence it’s an intriguing combination of features with rooms and a network of passageways beautifully fitting together in a house plan.

Sharing his points of view, Ismail said that the design was based on the client’s experience from having lived in an urban village, plus their interest in a sustainable way of living, albeit in a small space.

To comply with the family’s wishes, he translated their ideas into a coherent distribution of masses and expertly crafted a house plan capable of bringing many benefits, including convenient and safe exterior and interior traffic patterns.

The front of the house features an eclectic mix of items and decorations ubiquitous among urban kampongs across Indonesia. They include different textures and materials that come together in an untidy way like a picture of a village scene.

Among them are ornaments such as window box planters, skylights, garden areas and unfilled spaces in the wall that drive natural ventilation keeping the interior living spaces cool and comfortable.

Commenting on a hybrid of brickwork and PVC sheets, Ismail said that PVC is strong and durable, which explains why it’s one 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 inside, a perfect solution for houses in a Tropical climate.

Walk in the door, and you come to an open concept common area with greenery that’s the essential part of the house plan. 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 areas create microclimates that differ from those in the surrounding areas. Plus, they allow natural light and improve air circulation at the same time.

Bedrooms are slightly hidden from view, cocooned in a comfortable location. They are reachable via an interior corridor lined with functions that serve practical purposes, among them a bar table and a few bookshelves.

All things considered, it’s a chic contemporary home thoughtfully devised to promote social interactions among family members without intruding into the lives of one another. At the same time, it’s made for a lifestyle that tries to reduce the use of natural resources.

The message is clear. Living sustainably in an urban kampong is more than just helping the environment. It’s also a way to bring people back in time and experience the Indonesian way of life like it’s always been.

The House Plan & Section Courtesy of Ismail Solehudin Architecture

Architect: Ismail Solehudin of Ismail Solehudin Architecture

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303 House: A Narrow Townhome Inspired by Aircraft Interior

By livingasean
February 12, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Nawapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Quang Tran /

An architectural practice called “Sawadeesign Studio” has applied innovative aircraft cabin ideas to give this narrow townhome a complete makeover. The small family home sits sandwiched between two low-rise buildings in the heart of Tan Binh, an urban district of Ho Chi Minh City. They named the project “303 House.”

Narrow townhomes are a typical housing type omnipresent throughout central Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. By law, places of residence with a narrow frontage to the street (smaller than 3 meters across, to be exact) are not permitted to have more than one level.

In this particular case, the only way to build is arrange all the usable spaces and functions on the same horizontal plane. And 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 technique. 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.

For indoor thermal comfort, the ceilings are made of Rockwool tole about 150 mm thick. The coated sheet metal 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 add natural touches to the interior.

As the architects put it, the secret to creating a healthy indoor environment lies in putting multiple layers of functional spaces in neat order to shield the home from the busy street outside. 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 townhome 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, with beautifully organized functional spaces on the other.

There are two bedrooms with a bathroom attached tucked away in a quiet place half way down, plus a third bedroom at the rear of the house accessible by a small corridor. Where appropriate, clear roofing materials provide light for houseplants, while openings in the rooftop drive air circulation keeping the interior cool and comfortable without air conditioning.

The house plan is not only tailored to the specific needs of a family of three, but it’s also a well-thought-out place of abode amid the hustle and bustle of the city.

As is often the case with most urban areas, for homeowners there’s a tendency to rent out the space in front of their houses to small retailers and businesses. But the family living at 303 House doesn’t need that kind of income. They prefer to keep the door closed and enjoy privacy in the comfort of their home. Albeit small, it’s an oasis of calm — a home sweet home no doubt.

Architect: Sawadeesign Studio (www.sawadeesign.net)

Lead Architects: Doan Si Nguyen and Vo Thanh Phat

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Villa Sati: A Country Retreat Breathes in the Energy of Nature

By livingasean
January 31, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

EN / MM

/ Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

Here’s an intimate country villa peacefully nestled in the wooded hills of Nakhon Ratchasima. The big mountains of Khao Yai National Park that’s a UNESCO World Heritage site can be seen from miles around. The house that merges into countryside vernacular offers an unbroken view of sugarcane fields and, beyond, the scenic beauty of islands in the sky.

The breezy and bright house in the fields belongs to Thanachai Ujjin, aka Pod, lead singer/song writer for the Moderndog band. To him this means everything. It’s a place to live al fresco and enjoy the benefits of fresh air and sunshine away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

His favorite hangout is a gallery along the side of the house, where he likes to sit under moonlight at 2 in the morning. Precisely, nature is on his doorstep.

The house plan is symbolic of modern Tropical architecture. It’s spacious, calm and uncluttered. Here, the atmosphere is so peaceful that Thanachai himself likens it to that of a far away temple. It’s the brainchild of Nattapak Phatanapromchai, of Erix Design Concepts Co., Ltd, an architectural practice based in Bangkok.

The minimalist place of abode is aptly named “Villa Sati”, or the House of Consciousness, so as to communicate the state of being fully awake and aware of oneself and one’s surroundings. Shining under the moonlight and starry skies, it has a spacious gallery along the outside of the house that’s perfect for walking meditation, which the artist and his Mom often do together.

Sharing his little piece of paradise, Thanachai 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.”

As one would expect, their country retreat is made for peaceful, simple living. Here, the artist and his Mom have plenty of time for their favorite pastimes – make art. And the house plan is thoughtfully devised to do exactly that.

Seen from a distance, gable roof design proves a perfect complement to the loggia along the outside of the building overlooking the garden. Elsewhere, gorgeous open-concept floor plans increase natural light and bring the outdoors into the home.

Walk in the door, and you find the stand-alone Butterfly Stool, a 1954 icon of Japanese industrial design by Sori Yanagi. A short distance away, a minimalist bedroom looks out over the sugarcane fields stretching as far as the eye can see. Straight ahead is a kitchenette that connects to a living area large enough for several purposes.

For lighting and good ventilation, a set of stairs next to dark clapboard siding has no risers between the treads. It provides access 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.

To create a flexible interior space, movable furniture comes in handy to establish zones and enhance traffic flow in the home. 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 said the gallery along the outside of the house affords a beautiful panorama of the lush mountain landscape.

At the same time, large openings in the walls allow fresh air to enter, creating air flow and bringing down ambient temperatures to the point there’s no need for air conditioning. Plus, the gable roof with extended overhangs effectively protects the gallery along the outside from sun and rain.

To add rustic charm to the home, the architect did away with the fascia, or the wooden boards covering the far ends of roof rafters. It’s a technique to highlight the framework supporting the roof as is often the case with the Thai style of residential architecture.

At the same time, wood shingles covering the roof are made beautiful by special paint for a real custom effect, while cement board sheathing is installed underneath to protect against leaks.

The building’s structural 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 truss. For a neat appearance, the side posts of every doorway and glass wall frame perfectly align with gable-end studs. The result is a beautiful country villa with clean design in the midst of scenic surroundings.

For strength and durability, 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 serves as load-bearing foundations.

Technically speaking, the house-on-stilts design is ubiquitous across countries in the Tropical climate. It provides good ventilation under the floor, a brilliant way to keep the home cool all year round. By and large, it looks the epitome 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’s a kind of design that 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 of mine. The wide open spaces of the countryside are hugely rewarding for me as an artist.”

Architect: Nattapak Phatanapromchai of Erix Design Concepts

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သဘာဝတရား၏စွမ်းအင်ကိုရှူရှိုက်ရာ ကျေးလက်အိမ် (Burmese Version)

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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

Baan Hing Hoi: A Modern Duplex Design Exudes the Charm of Bygone Days

By livingasean
January 27, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Sarayut Sreetip-ard / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul, Wasin Pummarin / Styling: Suanpuk Stylist /

A modern duplex house by EAST Architects makes use of natural light, sun and airflow to provide indoor thermal comfort that’s the hallmark of the ultimate Tropical design.

One wing holds a semi-outdoor living space roofed over with flat terracotta tiles in a timeless shade of gray. It’s built almost entirely of wood with a balcony and a “tai thun”, or the underfloor space high enough for many different uses.

The other wing boasts the style, experience and flexible realities characteristic of postmodernism. To get enough natural light, the building is enclosed by exterior glass wall systems. Upstairs, a straight passageway connecting individual spaces leads to a cantilevered room that extends 6 meters supported by a rigid V-shaped steel frame – an unusual approach to lightweight modern house design.

The upper covering of the ultramodern wing is a steel-reinforced concrete slab. The high pitched gable roof that rises above it is topped with corrugated aluminum panels to allow light to pass through. This keeps the home well-lit by day and glowing with light and color by night, which explains why it’s named “Baan Hing Hoi”, literally translated as “Fireflies House”.

A piece of architecture representing the nexus between Eastern and Western ideas, the Fireflies House is a design that merges Modern and Traditional values into one Tropical-style 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 for the perfect indoor thermal comfort.

That pretty much summarizes the design concept embraced by two assistant professors, Pirast Pacharaswate and Sayanee Virochrut, of EAST Architects. The design duo prides themselves on being the “architects of Tropical rainforests”.

Together they turned a family’s wish into reality. The homeowner, Thanawat Yongsanguanchai, wanted a modern, warm and welcoming place where his family could spend more time together outdoors.

He was looking for a bright and breezy design, one that’s comfortable without air conditioning. And the architect duo was on hand to deliver exactly that by making natural ingredients pretty much an integral part of the plan.

The result was a well-thought-out modern house that included a part intended be perceived as if it were a tunnel leading to another world beautifully ensconced in the rear of the property.

“In essence, it’s a design takes into account basic human needs for relaxation and the culture in which people live. Simply put, 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 and comforts that are symbolic of Thai-style houses in former times. In juxtaposition, it’s strikingly different from the design of the parents wing, which is evidence of a new language of architecture.

“The parents wing sits under a high pitched gable roof that glows with light and color, which conveys a great deal about the postmodern school of thought. The real upper covering that functions as the roof in a practical sense is a steel-reinforced concrete slab that lies underneath it. In other words, the gable is there to make a statement about postmodern philosophy.”

Pirast explained: “It’s our intention to present a feature characteristic of traditional gable roof houses, something considered old-fashioned. And to create a welcome contrast, we roof it over with modern building materials instead.

“The result is a modern house topped with a gable that shimmers in the sunlight. It’s covered with corrugated aluminum panels that’s lightweight and very noticeable, creating an entirely new perception.”

“We found out that the homeowner preferred white to other colors, so we responded with a choice of cool-toned whites for the parents wing. For contrast and comparison, the children’s wing gives a powerful impression of being Thai. It’s roofed over with flat terracotta tiles in a nice shade gray.

“Wood is the main building material here. For strength and durability, the truss or framework supporting the roof is made of metal, but the skill and craftsmanship are Thai style. The two wings are linked by a roofed platform along the outside of the house.”

The children’s wing is semi-outdoor by design, thanks to the veranda and spacious traditional-style underfloor spaces. It differs greatly from the parents wing that’s enclosed by exterior glass wall systems, a great way to bring the beauty of the outdoors inside. Go straight down the corridor, and you come to individual rooms and functional areas with modern conveniences.

The ground floor holds a pantry and dining area with a sitting room nearby. 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 multi-purpose room with wood décor ideas. An array of alternating plain and hand-carved wood cabinets ooze the charm and poise of Thai-style residential architecture.

Upstairs, the bedroom projects 6 meters into space supported by a rigid V-shaped steel frame for a lightweight look. Floor-to-ceiling glass wall systems afford views of the landscape.

Proceed to the children’s wing, and you discover not all ceilings are horizontal. Their bedrooms boast beautiful ceilings that slope in agreement with the gable roof. The vertical siding 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 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.

The architect said: “To make a positive first impression, it’s good to be a noticeable new phenomenon. Like so, the garden pathway is strategically built in such a way that people recognize the unique roof design as they approach the house from various distances and directions, each resulting in a different point of view.

“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 an experience that creates an awareness and evokes admiration of architectural beauty,” Pirast wrapped it up nicely.

All told, the gable roof duplex evokes respect and warm approval through outstanding design and the power of storytelling that combines traditional values, longing for nature, and great aesthetic pleasure into one coherent whole.

Owner: Thanawat Yongsanguanchai

Architect: EAST Architects (www.eastarchitects.com)

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A Box-shaped House in A Mid-City Garden by Vin Varavarn Architects

By livingasean
December 24, 2020
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

To have more space for his three children, M.L. Varudh Varavarn (Vin) of Vin Varavarn Architects built this modern house amid a garden on a quarter-acre property in the heart of Bangkok’s Chidlom District.

“Children need a place with trees to run and play,” was Vin’s first thought in keeping all the original trees for the garden. Each room looks out on this great play area.

“When we built the place we’d just come back from living abroad in a town house. There wasn’t really enough space for the kids there, so we made this home more about the kids than ourselves,” he told LivingASEAN.

Box-shaped House Vin Varavarn Architects — The house, the balcony, and the garden are simple components of a tropical house. Although porous from wood borer beetles, these folding doors are perfectly functional. The decorative garden stones were dug up from the property.

One primary building material was 20-year-old teakwood from Vin’s mother’s plantation in Kamphaeng Phet, much of which had been eaten hollow by wood boring beetles and couldn’t be sold to a lumber yard.

“We figured wood like this might give an interesting look. Talking with The Jam Factory contractor Subhashok gave us some ideas.

“We wanted something that didn’t look too slick, but had unique character and was durable. Wood, concrete, and steel were our main building materials.”

With porous teak, it’s best to cut the wood into narrow boards, sort out the more porous ones, then use the different types in different parts of the house.

Wood with no holes is used for flooring. Even though you can see into the sapwood on some, porous wood panels can be used for latticework, folding doors/windows, and ceilings, which are not usually touched by people, and they can be patched where called for.

This steel-frame box-shaped house uses cement walls as artifice: for instance, the wall of rough concrete next to the parking area creates a vertical play of light and shadow on garden stone surfaces.

Meantime, the living room’s big brick walls are surfaced with concrete poured in different concentrations, creating gray stripes in gentle contrast to the rough harshness of the concrete itself.

The house plan visually connects interior and outdoor spaces in a number of places: coming in the door, we first encounter an interior court with a tree, then walk around into the living area, dining space, and large open-plan pantry flanked on both sides by gardens, seeming to switch character back and forth between being indoors and outdoors.

By the tree court is a latticed staircase of wood and steel leading to the 2nd floor, where we find a living area, children’s activity room, and all the bedrooms.

“The kids have been happy here, and feel more like staying at home, so we’ve achieved a nice level of success,” added M.L. Varudh. Before the evening came we got to see all 3 of Vin’s children as they got back from school to run, play, climb, and have fun, laughing and smiling, sometimes in the children’s activity room.

Architect: M.L. Varudh Varavarn of Vin Varavarn Architects

MODERN TROPICAL HOME IN INDONESIA

Baan Lek Villa: A House-Cum-Homestay in Chanthaburi

By livingasean
December 19, 2020
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Chanthaburi, Thailand /

/ Story: Wuthikorn Sut / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

This is a stilt house design where the contemporary style merges with rural vernacular in Chanthaburi. It’s built on the concept of home with a dual nature – a villa-cum-homestay. The design pays particular attention to the simple life and harmony with the surroundings, plus good positioning in relation to light and wind patterns makes it more comfortable to live.

Baan Lek Villa is the work of “Kaew” Rinrada Nirote, homeowner and architect at GLA DESIGN STUDIO, in collaboration with designer Pitch Nimchinda. It’s intended to accommodate her family, house guests and friends of her mother (“Lek” Kuna Nirote).

Rinrada came to Bangkok to further her studies and has worked there since graduation. Little by little it dawned on her that building a new house in her native Chanthaburi would be a good idea.

It would give her a place to stay and a small office away from the city. She wanted a design that looked simple yet attractive, kept within the budget, and blended into the community.

The result is a home that merges with the surrounding countryside. Simple house design offers two distinctly different zones – private and public areas.

The living space is raised up on piles, while the ample multi-use area underneath it is meant for dining and receiving guests.

Sharing her slice of paradise, Rinrada says that nowadays more people are yearning for a simple way of living. Advances in technology have made it possible for us live anywhere and still be able to work. What we need is a case for carrying clothes and a few personal belongings, plus a portable computer.

Even better if you have a place of your choice that helps you relax in nature. Intended to make our breaks truly refreshing in the countryside, this house was complete only recently. So far it has received many guests and friends of her mother and brother.

“We didn’t intend to make it a family business. I was into hotel designing to begin with. Now that I have a house of my own, Mom has invited her friends over. They loved it and spread the good word. So we thought the time was ripe to provide the accommodation of guests. It’s important that they get to experience the relaxing side of Chantaburi town,” she said.

What makes this house unique is the architectural detail that’s right for the climate of Thailand.

The design takes into account seasonal variations, such as sunlight and wind patterns, to create a comfortable environment. Rinrada got the inspiration for the multi-use ground floor from “Have you eaten yet?” a traditional expression of goodwill that Thais say as a sign of welcome.

This explains why a dining table set and kitchen counter are there. The area doubles as waiting room for people who drop by for a visit just like old times.

Walk up the stairs and you come to a more private area of the house, which consists of a large balcony and main living quarters.

Overall, the building is made of concrete that works well with beautiful wood accents. To make the building appear lightweight, the entire floor of the overhanging balcony is made of steel framework.

Taken as a whole, it’s a perfect mix of concrete, steel and clever design that lets the beauty of natural wood stand out.

For an aesthetic appeal, the ground floor is covered to some extent by eggshell pebble pavers that seamlessly connect with the surrounding landscape. The garden sits in the shade for much of the day thanks to the house being positioned on the western side of land.

The fact that it’s located in the further reach also leaves plenty of extra room available for future projects. For the time being, Rinrada intends to turn the front yard into an ample garden filled with large trees, shrubs and natural light.

Most importantly, Rinrada says it’s the understanding of the context that sets the main idea about good house design. Appropriate orientation involves more than just the sun’s path or seasonal wind patterns. Every little detail must be taken into account.

This modest home is designed to blend with the environment and other key attributes that have made Chanthaburi town famous. It merges with rural vernacular and sprawling fruit orchards. It’s built of material that’s available locally, reclaimed lumber included.

All told, it’s one that stands in perfect harmony with the community.

Owner: Rinrada Nirote

Architect: GLA Design Studio

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White House: A Bright, Seemingly Hovering House by Saola Architects

By livingasean
December 2, 2020
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Vientiane, Laos /

/ Story: Nawapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Akira Sato, François Hervy /

This light and airy house with lots of white looks like an optical illusion. Nestled in the heart of Vientiane, it appears to be floating above a lush green oasis with crystal-clear pool water. The beautiful dwelling called “White House” is the work of Saola Architects, a homegrown design studio in Laos.

The pastel white house with 160 sq. m. usable internal space sits encompassed by its natural surroundings. As Saola Architects intended, it has the general shape of the letter V. The ground floor is mostly enclosed by glass walls that afford the seamless integration of indoor and outdoor living spaces.

The architects said they got the design inspiration from a vernacular architectural style in Laos. The house plan, which reflects local traditions, has been adapted to make it suitable for modern living. This includes making the interior living rooms bright and airy, and connect to outdoor spaces with no apparent gaps or spaces in between.

The swimming pool is placed in a straight line along one side of the V-shaped design that in a way is dictated by the appearance of the land.

As time passes, sunlight reflected from the pool puts on a spectacular shadow and light show on nearby walls. Because the ground floor enclosure is made mostly out of glass, only the upper part of the house is visible from afar and seemingly hovering above the landscape.

The inground pool provides passive cooling that drives natural air circulation, thereby improving the indoor thermal comfort. As pool water evaporates, air currents carry moisture or water vapor into and out of the room.

As a result of that, the interior is kept cool without the need for air conditioning. The heat gain control makes the house comfortable to live despite a hot and humid climate.

Aesthetically, the house is a mix of bare concrete on the inside and lots of white paint on the outside. For an improvement of the indoor climate, wood is the main décor material for its ability to provide a soothing ambience, especially in private areas on the second floor.

By and large, the seemingly floating house is poetry in motion when kissed by the sun. It’s spacious, airy and bright thanks to open floor design, plus windows that allow plenty of natural light and good ventilation all year round.

Architect: Saola Architects
Furniture and Décor: Birds Follow Spring

From An Old Home to A Stunning House on Stilts

By livingasean
October 8, 2020
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Chachoengsao, Thailand /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

This lovingly restored home on the canal is a hybrid of wood and concrete. Made of recycled materials from an old building on the property, it evokes memories of the house on stilts symbolic of the Thai way of life. Reclaimed timber paired with the concrete framework and smart design elements creates a harmonious blend of traditional and modern.

House on Stilts — The old house before a complete teardown to make room for a new home.

A New House with Old-World Charm

Suthep Iam-on is the owner of an old house on the canal in Bang Pakong area. It has fallen into disrepair. At first, he had planned to just leave it at that and move on to build a new house closer to the road instead. He sought advice from architect Kasin Sornsri of Volume Matrix Studio about building a naked concrete home.

But after inspecting the proposed site, Kasin thought it wise to do a complete teardown of the old home to make room for a new one using materials recycled from the old house.

The interior makes use of large, open spaces. Food is prepared in the farthest area enclosed by brick walls. The door to the master bedroom is opposite a dining table set that the homeowner bought from BaanLaeSuan Fair. In the foreground, a sitting room with sofa and coffee counter affords beautiful views. — The interior makes use of large, open spaces. Food is prepared in the farthest area enclosed by brick walls. The door to the master bedroom is opposite a dining table set that the homeowner bought from BaanLaeSuan Fair. In the foreground, a sitting room with a sofa and coffee counter affords beautiful views.

The coffee counter with a view. The stair leading to the second floor is to the right side of the room, protected from sunlight by a solid wall.

Polished concrete surfaces adorn the front entrance. The doorway casing is made of reclaimed timber, while brickwork stands out as the main feature of the hybrid wood and concrete home.

Explaining his concept, Kasin said:

“Essentially, it’s about building a new home that’s very much part of the spirit of the times. It’s a design that connects with the way of life of ordinary people.

“At the same time, it doesn’t have to be the kind of Thai-style house that we have grown accustomed to for years. Not many people appreciate that. Nor is it anything like a group of buildings of the Ayutthaya Period.”

Built by locals over 40 years ago, the old stilt house was in poor condition. Many home features did not meet living standards now, plus a few add-ons were put in place, including concrete walls that enclosed the ground floor, which affected structural integrity.

Nonetheless, the way of life here has remained unchanged and carefully integrated into the new design. In the process, every little detail was decoded into intelligent language.

The result was an entirely new home built on a concrete structure. It has all the key attributes of the traditional Thai home, such as an open space on the ground floor, a platform along the outside for fresh air, and a corridor connecting the rooms. They are wrapped in old timber recycled from the old house.

The sitting parlor showcases numerous trophies won as prizes for victory in bird contests. Not far away, a full grown tamarind tree keeps the living room in shade. — The sitting parlor showcases numerous trophies won as prizes for victory in bird contests. Not far away, a full-grown tamarind tree keeps the living room in shade.

On the southwest side, the hallway that contains a staircase receives a fair amount of sunlight. It’s protected from too much sun by a tamarind tree and wood pillars recycled from the old house. Shadows thrown on the wall are on show again naturally. — On the southwest side, the hallway that contains a staircase receives a fair amount of sunlight. It’s protected from too much sun by a tamarind tree and wood pillars recycled from the old house. Shadows thrown on the wall are on show again, naturally.

Ground Floor Living Room, Simple Materials, and Lighting Ideas

The first eye-catching feature is the concrete framework with polished surfaces paired with stunning wood accents.

Reclaimed timber from the old house finds new purposes as flooring materials, interlaced structures resembling lattices, and pillars supporting lightweight parts of the building. Walk into the interior, and you come before an open floor plan that’s the hallmark of modern home design. Further back lies a courtyard with a corridor connecting the rooms.

There are bedrooms on one side and an open space on the other, which looks out over a garden and nearby Bang Samak Canal. As the homeowner puts it, the area arouses a sentimental longing for the past, especially memories of his father’s time.

One thing the architect is able to do is to concentrate on significant features of the Thai house and incorporate them into the language of the new house design.

They include the use of transom windows, skylights, pillars, and lattices, which he carefully places at intervals. In so doing, large pillars recycled from the old house are erected along the western front to help protect the area exposed to the sun.

By late afternoon, the soft glowing light from the sky alternating with dark areas creates a relaxing atmosphere like the Thai house in the olden days. By nightfall, lanterns light up at intervals as a means of visual expression and make the home cozy and welcoming.

The house built on stilts offers plenty of headroom on the ground floor to let fresh air enter and circulate from the southwest. Not far away, a full-grown tamarind tree keeps the area in the shade for much of the day.

Old wood piles not fitting for building purpose find new life as garden sculpture ideas by the waterfront. — Old wood piles not fitting for building purposes find new life as garden sculpture ideas by the waterfront.

A garden path connects the house to a landing stage on the canal.

A warm and welcoming atmosphere embraced by nature.

The character and atmosphere of the place viewed from the waterfront garden.

The Allure of a Handcrafted Home

The house has many aviaries for keeping birds in. They are there by design. At different places, new decor items stand embraced by old artifacts as a means of visual expression that merges countryside vernacular with modern living.

Together, they represent a source of pride and pleasure within the local community.

More than anything else, it’s a handmade home in its own right. The architect’s message is evident.

That is to say, a home doesn’t have to be of impeccable character. Bricks don’t have to be identical to make beautiful walls. “Likewise, if we look at life carefully, we’ll find that everyone is interesting in his own special way. All ways of life are just as beautiful,” said the architect.

The cube-shaped wing houses a sitting parlor that showcases trophies from victory in bird contests.

An archway forms a passage from the landing stage on the canal. This picture was taken during a dry season.

Seen from a distance, the house stands surrounded by mature trees that provide shade and make it comfortable to live.

The power of storytelling. A veranda in front of the house showcases a collection of tools ad utesils used by the people of Bang Pakong area. — The power of storytelling. A veranda in front of the house showcases a collection of tools ad utensils used by the people of the Bang Pakong area.

Owner: Suthep Iam-on

Architect: Volume Matrix Studio

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