LIVING / Living ASEAN - Inspiring Tropical Lifestyle

Enchanting Country Lodges in Prachin Buri

By livingasean
May 16, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Prachin Buri, Thailand /

/ Story: Panalee / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Sitthisak Namkham /

Here are beautiful country lodges nestled in a verdant oasis perfect for a weekend getaway. M.L. Apichit Vudhijaya sojourned in this part of the country a decade ago. Prior to that he had been searching for a modest, relaxed home with a seaside atmosphere. But as luck would have it, he came across this piece of land on the bank of the Bangpakong River in Prachin Buri Province. Needless to say, the location was peaceful and pristine. And the rest was history.

Soon he started building his dream country lodges largely out of reclaimed timber because it wasn’t too difficult to find. The weathered look of old wood paired with the imprints of time adds gorgeous curb appeal to the home.

“I wanted to try living the local way and experience life the way locals see it. No air conditioning, no glass windows. The first building on the property was made of materials recycled from what used to be a schoolhouse.

“Window frames and shutters came from recycling warehouses on Canals 2, 4 and 16. A local master builder named “Oy” undertook to build it from scratch,” said the homeowner.

He moved in after the first building was completed, and loved every minute of it. Impressed by the peaceful environment and unhurried, bucolic lifestyle, he decided to put in a second building two years later.

M.L. Apichit said: “I’ve got an antique-style Jacuzzi tub that was bought new from Italy. There was no room for it after our family home in Bangkok had been remodeled, so I had it shipped out here and set it up in the center of the yard.

“I put in a canopy to protect it from dead and dried leaves. After a while, it became a familiar sight, and the weather was nice. So I had a second house put in where the tub was originally.”

“The children came and stayed there, they love it, and the rest is history. Friends dropping in on us said it turned out to be a very romantic place,” he recalled.

House number 4 named Jakha offers seven rooms for guest lodging on the first floor overlooking a swimming pool. Upstairs holds a spacious suite.

It wasn’t long before the two houses became ill-prepared to meet increasing demands. M.L. Apichit soon decided it was time he put in a third building. The plan was to build a two-story home with a rooftop deck to take in views of the Khao Yai National Park clearly visible from miles around.

One day he came across an old home on the riverbank that was up for sale. He bought it, had it taken apart and shipped out here. The 70-year-old wooden home was given a new lease on life at a new address, this time with new roofing. Old-fashioned corrugated sheet metal made way for new terracotta roof tiles. Where appropriate, the walls were built of solid wood.

The unblemished charm of rustic life represented a turning point in M.L. Apichit’s perspective towards property development. He sought advice from a close friend, Apasiri Devahastin Na Ayudhya. The two friends shared a background in the hospitality industry.

“Now I wanted four houses on the property and they would be given appropriate Buddhist names. Already a team of creative designers have come up with titles from “Kharawasa Dharma 4”, a set of four disciplines for leading a happier life. They are Sajja (truth), Thamma (freedom from greed), Khanti (patience) and Jakha (generosity).

“House number 4 has a swimming pool. I designed it with the knowledge that I had. It was a terraced house design with 8 residential units,” he added. Upon completion, the latest addition named Jakha, became the first building to be visible from the country road in front of it.

The lure of a laid-back home in the countryside can be irresistible. Nature-inspired design is so charming, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. No wonder many come away impressed by the hospitality they have experienced for during their visit. The property contributes to the local economy, as workforce is hired from within the community and local products are used.

But it’s the warmth and homey feelings of these country lodges that have kept many coming back.

Owner: M.L. Apichit Vudhijaya

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Good Old Days: A Lovely Wooden House with Panoramic Views

By livingasean
May 16, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Chiang Mai, Thailand /

/ Story: Patsiri Chotpongsun / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Sitthisak Namkham /

Turning left into a side street opposite Chiang Mai’s Mae Rim district bureau, rice fields on both sides of the road have matured and only just begun to bear fruit. In the middle of it, all emerged a two-storey wooden house with vintage Thai-style appeal. It stood hemmed in by tall trees and lush green lawns. This two-storey wooden house showcases a mix of concrete and timber, its wide façade looking out on a fabulous panorama of mountains and paddy fields.

wooden house — Open-back bookshelves contribute to an airy interior made for lounging, reading, and viewing pictures in the gallery.

Anchan, the housedog, gave a welcome bark, followed by greetings from the mustached host, “Tom” Apichai Wangtragul. He introduced us to his better half, “Saa” Narawan Rajchasee Wangtragul, AKA the heart of the house. The Retro look of her Thai-style sarong matched the atmosphere of the home named “Good Old Days.”

“Back in Lampang we had a small coffee shop offering snacks and selling guitars. It was very warm there, so we started looking for a new home in good weather. We found one on Google, not far from where we wanted to build our first home in Chiang Mai. One day that piece of land was up for sale, and we were lucky to have bought it,” Saa said.

Tom was teaching draftsmanship courses in Lampang, when they met, and the rest is history.

In Chiangmai, he designed the new wooden house after first setting up a model to determine effects of different building orientations at various times of day. He kept track of amounts of sun and natural air circulation and used the information to aid in the design.

The result was a home that fit in well with its natural surroundings and weather conditions.

As he puts it, “The home facing west gets a full dose of afternoon sun. The glare can be felt, no doubt, but the trade-off is worth it.

Panoramic sunsets can be seen every day.” To solve the problem, he has put in moveable latticework, which reduces the sun’s harsh glare.

“I grew up in a wooden house on the water’s edge. I told him I wanted one with a shed roof made of corrugated sheets just like old times,” Saa recalled.

“Tom said that could not be done. So we built our new home using metal sheet roofing instead. I wanted doors with plantation shutters and places to showcase collectibles that we have cherished for a long time.”

Tom made sure his loved one got what she wanted. He searched and found reclaimed timber in Sanpatong and paired them with old wood imported from Lampang.

The timber supplies included Burma padauk wood, ironwood, and teak. The couple sought blessings for peace and prosperity before every piece was put to good use.

Apart from carpentry details, Tom is passionate about modern style with an emphasis on naked concrete finishes. Together they make the building feel light.

The interior living spaces are light and naturally ventilated, thanks to plenty of openings on all sides. Each function area is clearly defined with floating furniture for easy updates.

This design concept applies to the sofa in the living room and the dining table by the rear windows. The kitchen comes fully equipped, as their house becomes a home-stay destination.

The couple does everything in-house from selecting natural ingredients to preparing indigenous meals. It is attention to details and good health practice that keep customers coming back.

Tom’s hobby projects have been the source of many décor items.

Triple-shutter design : In the Northern region, the window with three shutters in a row is generally preferred for cost effectiveness. The ingenious design needs only one latch to lock all three windows.

Tom keeps a collection of vinyl records for sentimental reasons. He likes listening to relaxing music on the old-fashioned phonograph while Saa cooks. Some of it is rare on this day and age. Here time goes by so slowly that it seems stuck in history.

The floor plan features a flight of stairs made of concrete and wooden steps. Located in the center, it keeps the two bedrooms on the first floor a good distance apart for added privacy. There are cabinets where old books and other collectibles are neatly kept. Nearby stands a gallery made for lounging, reading, and viewing pictures on the wall.

The second floor offers two good-sized bedrooms : one for guest accommodations, and the other for the couple’s exclusive use. There are antique beds in all of the bedrooms. Saa said she felt good about them knowing they came from good homes. She bought them direct from their previous owners. Between the two rooms stands an office space, where Tom spends time working at his draftsman desk. The workspace is bedecked with collectibles including old cameras and vinyl records.

As Saa puts it, “This is the wooden house that strikes the right balance for the two of us. It effectively chronicles our love story and journey through time. I am just happy being here.

“Chiangmai is such a delightful place, with canals, plenty of water, trees, and beautiful culture. During the period from November to February, our house becomes a home-stay destination.

Known as “Good Old Days,” the house has become a wholesome getaway for like-minded people. The service is not available during summer months, because we don’t use air conditioning. Time is well spent in the great outdoors.

Owner/Designer: Apichai Wangtragul

An Open, Airy Home with Privacy in Nakhon Pathom

By livingasean
May 11, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Nakhon Pathom, Thailand /

/ Story: Ajchara Jeenkram / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

Comfort, safety, and privacy were the primary considerations in designing this house. Spacious, cool and airy, it fits right into its Nakhon Pathom city neighborhood.

“Coming back exhausted from work, the owner feels he’s escaped to the other side of a wall where he can finally relax with family in an inner sanctum hardly at all visible from outside.” Meechai Jaroenphon, architect from the Backyard Architect Co., Ltd., says the family wanted a lot of privacy for their home, which accounts for the dense concrete fence, broken only by a few narrow slots.

home nakhon pathom — The house entry area next to the carport.

The property holds three houses with a connecting court in between. There’s the main house where the owner lives, a second house for his siblings, and at the very rear is the parents’ house.

The idea was to live together as a big family while still having privacy. At the architect’s suggestion the homes are compact, leaving a large common space for a garden they work together, which adds a warmer, more intimate atmosphere.

Meechai goes on to say, “The owner wanted the different homes to be set at different levels, with stairs of different heights. I took this a step further and designed stairways as connecting elements, primarily using wood for its simplicity and warmth.”

Stairways connect the three buildings, and going up or down each time brings us into the private space of a different family unit. Sometimes there’s more functionality involved: the stairway in front of the first house, for instance, has a frame of steel and wood railing which screens the view from outside.

Although privacy is important, there are also openings to facilitate sun and wind coming in. “I had in mind the concept of a “safe house,” says Meechai.

“So I designed the carport to block a house view, but the buildings are open to the breezes. When the owner comes home exhausted from work he enters a cool, comfortable atmosphere, escaping into his very own world.”

The altar room is a common area where the parents come to pray and make merit every day. Set at the highest point, it’s larger than other rooms, and divides into two sections: a meditation room and a sitting room. The walls here are open on three sides for an open, airy ambience.

As you can imagine, it’s quite a challenge to create a home for people of different ages to live close to each other. Good design has to anticipate actual usage and find solutions for each person. This house in Nakhon Pathom is a real success story in that way: the big family really enjoys living together.

The house fence and carport wall have 10 cm. slits allowing a view outside.

Materials used in the house: teak, Makha wood, brick, marble, mosaic tiles.

Architect: Meechai Jaroenphon of Backyard Architect Co., Ltd.

Visit the original Thai article…

บ้านซ่อนตัว

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TATHATA: A Lanna Wooden Home Oozes Old World Charm

By livingasean
May 11, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Nan, Thailand /

/ Story: Wuthikorn Sut / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Rithirong Chanthongsuk /

Looking back on former times for inspiration? Here’s a laid-back wooden home reminiscent of what life was like in Lanna, an ancient kingdom that’s present-day northern Thailand and vast swaths of countryside now part of Myanmar and Laos. As an expression of love for simple rural life, the homeowners named it “Tathata” in the vernacular of the region meaning “just the way it is”.

The house was built based on local traditions of the distant past. It has a pleasant, relaxed and chic open-concept space with a nice cool breeze blowing all day long through its exquisite form. Plus, harmonious lines and distinct finishes boast the charm of eco-friendly Lanna craftsmanship.

“We’re Bangkok people, but love the atmosphere and way of life here in Nan. After coming to work at Nan Hospital, we decided to live here and looked around for where to build until we finally found this property,” says Natthathon Kharaphongsathaphon, who owns the house with Jittraphon Khwamkhnueng.

Lanna wooden house — Double walls with alternating slats sliding open and closed to control airflow.

The house sits on a road convenient to Nan Hospital, in a quiet natural setting by the water’s edge. For design, the owners hired Nanthaphong Lertmaneethawisap, of Arsomsilp Community and Environmental Architect Co., Ltd. as the project’s architect.

The architect said, “The owners liked the cultural and artistic dimensions of life in Nan, as well as its traditional wooden architecture. This house is only a few kilometers from the city, but in a perfect natural setting, easy breezes blowing around the clock.

“From the beginning, the words “Little House in the Big Woods” popped into my head. The doctors and I agreed we should take special care of the plants on the property, and we managed to preserve all the trees.”

The homeowners wanted the new design to use carefully selected old wood in ways that would preserve traditional Lanna craftsmanship. So all materials were taken from five traditional houses around Nan Province. They had the imprints of time and a lot of colorful history among them.

The traditional open space beneath the house, or “tai thun,” was designed for receiving guests with a deck connecting it to the kitchen and other sections of the house. The area around the stairwell is open, so light comes in from above. Walking up, you first come to the altar room, then a living area, and furthest in, the bedrooms.

Compact bedroom ideas for father and mother.

“We tried to make the house airy and open while providing for privacy, safety, and a clear division of space according to use,” said Natthathon.

“Towards the end while supervising the work, I started to learn the craft techniques. I sawed wood, used a chisel, and sharpened bars myself. I even did some of the kind of self-reliant agriculture everyone used to do, raising ducks, geese, and chickens, even growing a vegetable garden.

“Doing this was a revelation: it was entertaining! And it all takes physical effort, so there’s no need to go to the gym.”

All told, it’s a home that successfully applies traditional Lanna themes to present-day life. It’s a dream home that has become a reality in the natural environment of Nan, somehow seeming ordinary while being as beautiful a home as we’ve seen.

Owner: Natthathon Kharaphongsathaphon, Jittraphon Khwamkhnueng

Architect: Nanthaphong Lertmaneethawisap of Arsomsilp Community and Environment Architect (arsomsilp.ac.th)

Interior Designer: Preeyachanun Saisakaret

Visit the original Thai article…

บ้านตถตา บ้านไม้ บนรอยเท้าของชาวล้านนา

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Small House Renovation : a Family Solution

By livingasean
May 8, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

Living ASEAN takes you to a house that looks small, but was remodeled to answer the needs of all family members. From the front it has a straightforward, contemporary look. Inside it has great ventilation.

/// Thailand ///
Story: Ajchara Jeenkram, Wuthikorn Suthiapa /// Photography: Sitthisak Namkham /// Owner & Designer: Mr.David Chan

Here we are in Selangor State, Malaysia, where a sign in front proclaiming “Dday Haus” informs us we’ve arrived at Mr. David Chan’s residence. The unusual name comes from the first initials of his and his sons Daniel and Delan’s first names, even though the architect responsible for the house design, though, is actually more his wife, June Lim Sue May. You could say this is a continuation of David’s old house, which he uses as a home office and is tucked away right across a tiny village street.

This town house from the 90s retains its original façade but has been redone with better materials, giving it a contemporary flavor so that it stands out from its neighbors. Though the outward appearance hasn’t changed much, the interior is another story, featuring a full complement of conveniences, everything needed for comfortable modern living.

Perforated metal ceiling looks down from the balcony above – this is also a popular material for fences in Malaysia.

Next to the parlor is the kids’ homework room, and their work adorns the brick wall.

Downstairs, the children’s homework room adjoins the parlor, with the . kitchen and dining nook behind. Second floor splits left into a family room and children’s bedrooms, and to the right is the master bedroom with a mezzanine. David tells that the other house is used for an office and receiving guests, while this one is just for family life.

“We started out thinking this would be an office, but after more research we leaned more towards what we needed in this stage of our lives.” As a result, there are now more rooms, and more opportunity for family togetherness and comfortable living.

David spent many of his earlier years living in apartments, and enjoyed it, and the house is designed to reflect that. For instance there’s a section reaching up the entire four storeys which he calls “the tower.” A staircase winds upstairs from the kitchen on the first floor to a laundry/drying room on the second, and at the very top, a private living room with a mini swimming pool for the kids.

The family room has perforated metal floor panels, allowing a view of the children in the homework room below.

Twist and turn up the stairs to a compact bedroom.

The house is designed to meet the challenge of balancing close family connections with the need for privacy. A unique solution here is in the see-through metal gratings found here and there in walls and floor, which build a feeling of lightness into the house and give it personality.

David places high value on interior ventilation as needed for comfort: wind direction and flow were important design considerations. The air flow comes straight in through the long front balcony out to the back, then up through a service opening placed above to allow the release of hot air as the cooler breeze blowing in below keeps the house cool all day.

Link : https://www.dca.com.my/

An Elegantly Eclectic Home: The Beauty of Diverse Styles

By livingasean
May 4, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Wannch / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Nuntiya Bussabong /

It’s arguably the variety that makes living so enjoyable. Here’s the ‘Eclectic House’, a mix-and-match interior design integrating pieces of furniture and accessories from a broad range of styles and sources. Together they give the home color, freshness and charm and, at the same time, reflect well on the homeowner’s bright and sunny personality.

Architecturally speaking, the small, well-proportioned home is positioned to reap the benefits of favorable prevailing wind and light conditions, which already makes it a great place to live.

Add a gorgeous collection of furniture, and it’s hard to find a place that’s more lively and full of energy than this so-called “eclectic house” of ideas belonging to Sapsit Fungfueangchaweng, director of corporate marketing at AP Thailand.

Sapsit selected all the furniture and decorating items himself. Each of them has a story to tell that conveys a great deal about the home rich in collectibles from across the globe.

Upon his return from further studies abroad, Sapsit’s father decided to renovate an existing 200-square-meter guest house adjoining the family residence as a new home for his son. The two houses have a relaxed and intimate view of each other across the swimming pool.

“My home relies not so much on design as on interior décor, the arrangement of items from my collections,” Sapsit tells us.

Inside, it feels spacious and dominated by shades of white. Interior spaces – living room, workspace, dining area and a kitchen counter – are connected, but visually separated with the use of different dimensions. There’s a raised floor here, and an open ceiling over there with the gabled roof structure painted white, creating a spacious yet uniquely bounded feeling.

Standing front and center in the room is a collection of chairs in different styles matching harmoniously. Eclectic, yes, but beautiful. They fit in very well with tasteful ornamentation and the pictures that Sapsit has picked up during business and pleasure travels in recent years.

There’s a standout white sofa placed in front of one of Sapsit’s own works, a painting in blue and white. This is a spot where he likes to sit, maybe dreaming up new work, maybe just relaxing with friends.

Eclectic House — A raised floor sets the living room apart from the kitchen.

Sapsit used all sorts of arranging techniques to achieve a practical house plan and, at the same time, blend comfort and style. He offers a piece of advice, “In selecting what items to use, think first about function, not just decoration. Then, pick the things that have meaning, or spiritual value: they won’t become boring over time.

“Whatever selection a person makes should reflect well on his or her character, while never overlooking their function. This will result in great practical benefits and a beautiful home.”

Graphics large and small add lively highlights to this wall.

Besides his corporate marketing work, Sapsit owns the swimwear brand “Timo Trunks,” known for striking graphics with a uniquely fun and entertaining look. The brand’s products come from collaboration of Thai and foreign designers, and have developed to the point where they are distributed in more than 9 countries worldwide.

The original designs started at Sapsit’s Timo Trunks Studio, built right near his house for a super-easy work commute.

The outward appearance of the studio building is deceptively simple, but the space within reflects the brand’s fun-loving identity through graphics and furniture highlights amid white walls and a wood-grain floor with a bright, relaxing color scheme bringing to mind a colorfully painted canvas.

The full plate glass windows in front look outwards on a refreshing garden view, so the environment is inspiration for new ideas and the creation of great new designs.

Owner/Designer: Sapsit Fungfueangchaweng

Visit the original Thai article…

LIVING WITH COLLECTIBLE- เติมสีสันใส่ความเป็นตัวตน ในบ้านสไตล์อิเคล็กทิก

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Inspirational Office Design Ideas

By livingasean
April 25, 2017
IDEA,LIVING

A beautiful office can be an important element in inspiring good work. Here we give you five examples of exciting and creative office design in Bangkok.

/// Thailand ///

– Rabbit Digital Group –

An old aluminum warehouse on Banthat Thong Road now has a new and different look: its 1500 square meters of interior space now houses the chic new office layout of the Rabbit Digital Group. About 60 percent of the common area inside is reserved for a skateboard yard, ping-pong tables, snooker, a pantry, and a big communal table which can be used either for lunchtime celebrations or for brainstorming sessions where cool ideas are dreamed up, but that’s not all: everyone walking in to work passes through the chic industrial charm of this common area, and just experiencing the design is enough to unconsciously promote creative thinking. The building’s structural lines are painted black and offset by furnishings made of bright new materials: a steel stair, stainless steel slide, and natural rubber tree wood surfaces, in an open “doublespace” setting whose relaxed feeling is reinforced by living trees. It’s easy to forget this is an office!

– Charcoal Design –

When its old office could no longer provide needed functionality for the increasing numbers of people using it, Charcoal Design decided to relocate and renovate a 30-year-old house on a 400-square-meter property as its new workspace. Existing rooms were torn out and replaced with a spacious area that provided not only functional support for work teams, architects, interior designers, and graphic designers, but also convenient private work areas, and with enough space to accommodate a larger workforce in the future. Huge cement beams above the spacious, airy work hall reach out alongside a walkway that connects to a meeting room centered around the same glass table Company executives used in the former office. The atmosphere here is designed for the kind of ambience you might find in a bar or coffee shop, with greenery to relax the eyes.

– V Office –

The old place was just a studio, but now you’ll find V Office – of the VCAN group of companies – a workplace remarkable not only for its form inside and out, but for its unique and unforgettable character. This 5-storey building with a total space of 1,321 square meters took 3-4 months to design, and nearly a year to build. Completely redone, nothing was left of the old appearance. Now it’s open and uncluttered, with surfaces of brick and unfinished cement. The building façade features three-dimensional repetitions of the “V” motif in copper-colored aluminum composite attached to the steel building structure, creating beautiful patterns that work both to screen the sunlight and to give privacy, while giving the building its memorable standout look.

– Baiyah Studio –

This small architectural company built its office on a 60-square-meter property with a budget of just 800,000 baht and design and construction together taking only 5 months. The primary design requirement was to reduce electrical use, so the architects took maximum advantage of natural light and ventilation. To limit dependence on air conditioning systems, circulation within the building was designed to run generally through every space and room, so heat would be released rather than trapped. There are many strategies to protect against heat entry into a building, and architects took into consideration which times different sections received more or less use, positioning bathrooms, kitchen, and reception hall as a buffer toward the west, which gets the most heat in the afternoon, to keep office areas cool and comfortable during the day. Outside, a vertical garden covers the walls, acting as natural heat insulation.

– Designqua –

Am old 5-storey Sukhumvit area row building dating back to the 1980s with double arches in front and 600 square meters of usable space has become a charming example of architectural design. Behind a unique façade long familiar to the locals, a new office hides some incredibly charming design work, the brainchild of Malina Palasthira, a talented architect with the Designqua company. Looking for a site near a SkyTrain station where work could be done for a reasonable budget while still having enough space for herself and the 8-person design team, she found this place. To make it economical, some of the space was transformed into two differently styled Airbnb rooms to accommodate intercontinental travelers. The building owner wanted to keep the “retro” building façade, but much of the cramped inside was converted into a spacious, open office. Inside is a “flying table” work desk 8.3 meters long and designed to appear as if floating in the middle of the room. Working utility systems are intentionally exposed, for an open look which shows the beauty inherent in the systems themselves.

5 Wooden Stilt Houses You Will Love

By livingasean
April 24, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

Like a journey back in time, there is real warmth in the wooden stilt house. The eco-friendly design bespeaks the tradition and experience in the tropics. Handpicked from Living ASEAN collections, these five houses are perfect fits for hot and humid weather. Check them out.

/// ASEAN ///

http://livingasean.com/house/4-small-house-units-tranquil-tropical-living/

http://livingasean.com/house/countryside-home-eyes-architect/

http://livingasean.com/house/enchanting-thai-style-home/

http://livingasean.com/house/sustainable-living-tropical-house/

http://livingasean.com/house/awesome-rural-house-farm/

Modern Steel House a Perfect Fit for Tropical Climate

By livingasean
April 20, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Patsiri Chotpongsun / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Rithirong Chanthongsuk /

Close to nature. All the needed conveniences for modern family life. Spacious plus great ventilation. This steel-framed home fits its hot Tropical climate perfectly.

The house stands on the same rectangular property as the old family’s home, but is split off from it. The owner is a building contractor with interior decorating experience, and so with the help of an architect friend from Office AT, he was able to build exactly the house he wanted.

“The two of us already have a lot of possessions, and will need more when we have kids,” said the owner. “This house is designed for simple, easy functionality in a nice, open space. It’s modern, easy to maintain, and has a library and rooms we can put to various uses in the future.”

Being in the construction field, the owner already had his own work team and a lot of places to get ornamental materials. Much of what was used here came from other construction sites. For simplicity and ease, the house has a cuboid structural steel frame, allowing it to be built within only four months.

For the swimming pool to be set on the north side, the house is laid out lengthwise along the southern edge of the property, which also means the narrower eastern and western walls allow less sunlight and heat inside.

Near the main entrance is a carport, and trees act as a fence in front, adding shade and blocking the view from outside.

The spacious 400-square-meter living space in this home has a downstairs with connected living room, dining room and kitchen, all with a full view out onto the swimming pool.

“Besides all the northern doors and windows opening outwards, to the northeast and northwest are spaces always open for the wind to blow in and out of the house, keeping it cool so air conditioning isn’t needed most of the day,” said the architect.

The second floor holds bedrooms. Here walls are solid on the south side, featuring built-in closets such as are also seen downstairs.

A long balcony connects all the rooms, shielded from the sun by a “double-layer skin” latticework which gives privacy while creating dimensions of light and shade.

The materials – steel, aerated concrete, unpainted brick, wood battens, eaves and floors of light-colored wood, and the unpainted pine walkway around the pool – all express a simple sufficiency.

This steel house supports a comfortable lifestyle and is completely ready to be adjusted and adapted for future needs.

Architect: Office AT Co.,Ltd. (www.officeat.com)

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By livingasean
April 19, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Foryeah / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul, Beer Singnoi /

Utilizing the good qualities of the traditional Thai house in modern home design results in comfortable living and a look that never goes out of style. “Bua Baan House,” named after Bua and Baan, homeowner Ruja Rojanai’s daughter and son, was designed by Sorawis Na Nakhon of Bab Studio. His intention was to translate the most pleasing aspects of the traditional Thai house into a beautiful modern format.

“Almost all the houses in this neighborhood open onto a busy street, but this place of residence is located in a quiet, private cul-de-sac,” says the architect. “We planned the house in an “H” form which has more outside walls, allowing for more doors and windows and resulting in better ventilation than in a block-shaped building.”

The H-shaped house plan separates the building into two wings. From the carport stepping into the house, we pass the parlor/reception area, designed with a grand-looking “double-space” ceiling reaching up one and a half story.

modern thai house — An aluminum shading sunscreen blocks the sun’s harsh glare from the west.

Above the front entrance, a border of potted plants adds green to the rooftop deck.

The home is built on a long and narrow plot of land. For privacy, service areas and maid’s quarters are in the rear, with a laundry section directly above it accessed by a separate set of stairs.

The owner’s living area is in the second wing of the H-shaped house plan, with a lower-floor connecting walkway between the two sections reminiscent of the Tai-thun, or the open space below Thai houses of old. Above the walkway is an exercise room.

Above the entryway, openings in the wall release hot air from below.

The family residence wing rises three and a half stories high, with living room, workroom, dining room, and kitchen downstairs. Floor two holds a master bedroom for the parents, and another bedroom for an aunt. The third floor is for the daughter and son’s rooms. Each of them wanted a “mezzanine” level added to the bedrooms, hence a double-space ceiling with workspace set above.

The entrance hall continues along the length of the house, with doors and windows aligned right and left.

[Left] A coordinated stainless steel kitchen. / [Right] The cool and calm atmosphere inside a double-space bedroom.

Another thing adding to a sense of comfort and spaciousness in the home is in its linear plan, which allows easy circulation of light and air throughout.

Rooms are connected by a single walkway, and there are many doors and windows. The house faces west, presenting its narrow side to the hot afternoon sun. There, the architect provided thick, closed walls to block the heat, layering blocks inside to create a passage to let hot air out.

A flight of stairs leading to the workspace on the mezzanine in one youngster’s room.

Baan’s bedroom, with a cool-looking net hung above.

A stairway provides access to Baan’s mezzanine workspace.

Owner: Ruja Rojanai

Architect: Sorawis Na Nakhon af Bab Studio (www.facebook.com/babarchitectstudio) and Make it Pop (www.makeitpop.net)

Visit the original Thai article…

BAAN BUA BAAN – บ้านบัวบ้านแบบไทยๆ ใบหน้าฝรั่ง

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