A Large White House with a Modern Oriental Flavor

By livingasean
April 22, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Sitthisak Namkham, Nantiya Busabong /

This beautiful place is home to a large, multigenerational family. With family members from 8 to 84 years old, what stories it tells! Here belongings passed down across nearly a century give a sense of modern oriental flavor to every corner of its design.

Modern House — *Patama Roonrakwit, the architect and the owner (second from the right), and her family*

Long-time community worker Patama Roonrakwit, CASE Studio architect who designed and owns the house, created it from her knowledge of the ways and tastes of all its residents in their old home.

In a unique adaptation and fundamental design difference here, she preserved an old wooden house Pong’s grandfather had built, hiring Chinese craftsmen to raise it up to the second floor of the central building so family members could continue to experience its warmth.

Besides this, the home contains the offices of CASE Studio, Ed The Builder/Contractor, her brother’s tour company, sister’s music school, and guest rooms where friends can stay.

All this had to fit in a space of 1 Rai (1600 sq.m.), a narrow, long north-to-south lot. The building divides into seven sections, some of which are open, verandah-like corridors that give an angular definition to the space, trapping the wind and making for good air circulation throughout.

Bedrooms are intentionally not large, so as to encourage residents to come out and socialize in common spaces. Throughout the home, doors open onto walkways sloping down to the swimming pool.

The charm of the wooden house and the heirloom furniture gives the three generations of the Roonrakwit family and their regular guests the sense of a home that has opened its doors to welcome change while incorporating the experiences of them all at this important time.

An elderly person’s room, with special adaptations: bathrooms with no steps, support railings, and adjustable wash basins.

Owner: Roonrakwit family

Architect: CASE Studio

The Perfect Townhouse Makeover in Bangkok

By livingasean
March 11, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

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

/ Photographs: Soopakorn Srisakul /

The townhouse is a common type of building in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. Homeowner and architect Narong Othavorn grew up in one, always thinking of ways it could be better designed. Eventually, he and his wife Pim Achariyasilpa chose a 30-year-old townhouse in Si Phraya, a downtown neighborhood, and turned it into one of the most excellent townhouse makeover projects in the city.

Overall, the final building is a combination of the adjacent townhouses. Narong kept the original wrought-metal façade, modifying the original metal entrance door with a mixed frame of wood and steel, leaving the next-door side the entrance to a fourth-floor warehouse.

A picture window in the living room brings in natural light onto washed gravel walls that lead down to a small garden behind the house, inspiration for the “double space” mezzanine.

The double-space ceiling isn’t only about making the lower level look good: it supports the open-plan design.

Glass panels in the dining nook of the mezzanine above extend a feeling of comfort to every space in the house. From the mezzanine there’s a continuous view through glass partitions out to the garden behind the house, and there’s steady circulation of air from front to back.

Townhouses are apt to feel cramped, but not this one! The light is different in each area, but the light is what connects everything.

“These things came from our own personal tastes. Pim likes well-lit spaces. Me, I like indirect light,” explained Narong.

“So with a house for the two of us, we had to get the division of space just right, using the light available in each area. The lower floor is bathed in subdued natural light; upstairs, the living room is brightly lit through the front window.

“Moving back to the dining area and bar, the light is dimmer. Go upstairs to the bathroom and dressing areas and it’s lighter again, suiting the specific limitations and characteristics of each space.”

“Small, but spacious” is how both owners refer to this house: better than adequate, the size is really perfect.

Not so small as to be cramped. Everywhere some things catch your eyes up close and others at a distance. The home offers a master class on how townhouse renovation can work with limited areas to create special, interesting spaces.

Even though adjoining buildings make side windows impossible, careful arrangement of space and windows on higher levels give this house a beauty that is anything but ordinary.

Owner/Architect: Narong Othavorn of SO (www.soarchitects.space)

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ReGEN House: Modern Home, Thai Concept, Great for Family Members of All Ages

By livingasean
February 6, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: foryeah! / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Chalermwat Wongchompoo /

“ReGEN House,” Pankwan Hudthagosol’s home, was designed as a modern home for a multigenerational family. Built on the same property as his father’s house, its concept echoes his father’s belief that the gift of warmth and closeness can show us how to think and live, and both welcomes and provides a foundation in life for young Mena, the newest family member. It began with a great design from EKAR Architects.

The four-storey building on about ¼ acre of land has an interior space of 1600 meters. Its L-shaped layout opens on a green courtyard facing the forest-like garden at “Grandpa’s” house, connecting views for the people of three generations.

The first floor holds a carport, maid’s bedroom, and rooms for swimming pool equipment and other services.

The heart of this modern home is the second storey, where a wide balcony/deck taking up a full half of the floor space is used for family recreational activities.

This floor is designed to give the sense of being at ground level, as it reaches out to a “green roof” planted with ground cover seemingly floating atop a gazebo rising from the garden below, and with a swimming pool right there giving the feeling of an old-time streamside home.

The third floor includes a bedroom and workroom with large glass windows offering a panoramic view of Grandpa’s house and the big garden. The fourth floor is all about young Mena and her bright future.

The 4-storey height of the building gave the designers the opportunity to show differing siding materials on each floor, which they did using synthetic wood, stone, tile with stone designs, and glass.

If we look from the outside at the way the floors overlap, we get the impression of being a moderately sized house set inside a large one. Each floor has a self-contained design similar to a penthouse, including bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen of its own, so the whole house is a bit like a four-storey apartment building.

To give a sense of spaciousness, doors and windows were put in only where necessary, but they can be conveniently opened and shut to give privacy.

This house shows how modern design can be used to catch the spirit of the traditional Thai family residence of earlier days where many generations lived together, as modern architecture directly inserted into an urban environment manages to beautifully preserve a truly Thai way of life.

Owner: Pankwan Hudthagosol

Architect: EKAR

Interior Architect: Define Studio

Landscape Architect: Grounds play Studio

Structural Engineer: Sommuek Apiraksa

Visit the original Thai version.

REGEN HOUSE บ้านดีไซน์โมเดิร์น แต่แนวคิดไทย อยู่ได้ทุกวัยในครอบครัว

Colorful Changes in Bangkok: 6 spots welcome the new year with color

By livingasean
December 25, 2017
EXPLORE,JOURNEY

In this final month before the New Year, wherever you look in Bangkok you’ll see joyous festivities with colorful lights. Come with Living ASEAN to six of them!

/// THAILAND ///
Story: Gott /// Photography: Rittirong Tongjunsuk, Tanakitt Khum-on

Thailand Illumination Festival 2017 – Ratchada

This garden of more than 15 acres bustles with fascinating activities under the brilliantly glowing light of more than a million bulbs. Here you’ll find a tunnel of many colors, a Christmas tree festooned with lights, models of the 12 constellations of the zodiac, and an indoor sound and light show featuring songs composed by H.M. Rama 9. Open to visitors free of charge Monday – Thursday from 6 to 10 PM, and Friday – Sunday 6 to 11 PM until January 6, 2018: Ratchadapisek Road Soi 8, opposite the Esplanade shopping center.

festival of lights — Thailand Illumination Festival 2017

Beautiful Bangkok – Magnolia Ratchadamri Boulevard

Here a “3-D projection mapping” light show by the artist group “Limelight” paints a 60-story building with images depicting Bangkok ways of life, culture, and history. Shows from Dec. 14 – 31 2017 five times daily, at 7, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, and 8PM. On New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31) there’s a special additional show for the 2018 countdown at 11:55 PM.

LIGHT UP CHRISTMAS TREE CELEBRATION – Central World

CentralWorld Shopping Plaza has set up an amphitheater in front for a wondrously decorated “land of music” featuring world-famous Argentinian artist Javier Gonzales Burgos. The huge Christmas tree surrounded by statues including Santa, polar bears, and reindeer is a visual highlight.

Harry Potter: Christmas in the Wizarding World – Siam Paragon

The space fronting on Siam Paragon has become a magical country, giving muggles a not-to- be-missed photographic opportunity under the theme “Christmas in The Wizarding World,” put on by Warner Bros. Consumer Products and GES,
organizers of the international show “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” on its first visit to Thailand.

Let’s Celebrate 2018: The Holidays Bring Me Here – Central Embassy

A ten-meter Santa Claus, largest in Southeast Asia, rises majestically above Central Embassy shopping plaza, this year brilliant with more than a million Christmas lights. Here also is “Santa Playland,” designed to take everyone back to a fun-filled childhood atmosphere.

Winter Wonderland the Grand Celebration – The Emquartier – EMPORIUM

The Emquartier – EMPORIUM has transformed the trade center to be a miraculous land of winter under the theme “Winter Wonderland: the Grand Celebration,” with a 12-meter white bear and an army of small white bears beaming smiles at all
passersby. There is also a light show with content changing each week.

Link: http://www.baanlaesuan.com/88727/design/directory/5-light-up-bangkok/

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Huamark 09: A Concrete Block House Stands the Test of Time

By livingasean
November 21, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: foryeah! / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Nantiya /

Codenamed Huamark 09, this four-story home wrapped inside the concrete block envelope belongs to architect Intanon Chantip, aka “Non” of the INchan Atelier, a Bangkok-based architectural practice. It’s a design experiment aimed at testing several theories that he’d arrived at through intense study and experience. The architect wanted his concrete block home to tell its own story through changes in the looks of construction materials. Precisely, all the years that pass by will leave their trace of time as the house ages. It will be interesting to see how the building materials perform in the course of time.

Concrete Block House — The concrete block home resembles four big boxes stacked one on top of the other. The fence that protects the first floor of the house is painted a cool-toned white that contrasts with bare walls on Levels 2, 3 and 4 intentionally left exposed to blend with other houses in the neighborhood.

Not that long ago, Non and his wife Tharisra Chantip, aka Ploy, bought this 80-square-wah property (320 square meters) in Hua Mark District on the outskirts of Bangkok. They had the old 30-year-old house demolished to make room for a new four-story concrete home integrating office, art studio and residential spaces to form a coherent whole.

The building external envelope is built of concrete blocks without plaster. It’s left uncovered on purpose so as to blend with everything else in the neighborhood. All together the usable space comes to 490 square meters.

The homeowner couple divided the property into northern and southern sections. They raised the property slightly higher from ground level to put in a garden to the north, then a rectangular building to the south.

The building’s long side runs east-west to block prevailing winds and allow openings to control sunlight and breeze streaming into the home.

The house’s four-meter width is comparable to most row houses in the area. Each side has double walls that work simultaneously for ventilation and heat insulation. Door and window openings reinforce the concrete block house’s primary relationship to weather conditions, wind, and sun.

On the south side are fewer openings because of a staircase, while north and east sides have balconies and various service areas reaching around to the west side, which also has the double walls characteristic of the building’s overall design.

The four levels are divided according to function. The architects’ offices are primarily in two first floor rooms: a larger one with a long work table for working in teams and a smaller one that serves as meeting room and library.

The second floor is a private residential area, with a living room connecting to kitchen and dining area.

The third floor contains one bedroom for Non and Ploy and another for Non’s mother. The two are connected with a shared bathroom.

The fourth floor is a studio for creative work and enjoyment. It’s designed with a view to high flexibility of function in expectation of anticipated future changes as little members of the household gradually grow up.

Architect: INchan atelier

Box-Shaped Steel House Surrounded by Nature

By livingasean
October 3, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Kor Lordkam / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: W Workspace /

This box-shaped steel house, hidden in shady green woods, has a cool, peaceful resort atmosphere. – hard to believe it’s right in the middle of a congested city!

Designing architect Boonlert Hemvijitraphan of Boon Design took up the challenge set by the owner: create a home on the limited plot that is neither cramped nor stuffy.

Boonlert said, “The challenge was to make that work within the urban context. Fortunately, the owner gave us a completely free hand; our job was simply to design a comfortable residence on a 360-square-meter (90-square-wah) property. The starting point was what we saw in the original landscaping here.”

The property was not large, and its location right in the center of a capital city was seriously limiting

How to build a comfortable residence here? The garden/orchard greenery was used as a tool to create a sense of spaciousness.

Instead of the house spreading outwards toward the fence, it rose vertically as a 2½-storey home with open space beneath the house used as a carport and multipurpose area, the rest of the property becoming a relaxing, park-like space.

High-ceilinged living room, naturally bright and airy, with a great view of outside greenery.

The large garden was set up to the south to get the best breeze and the best shade from plants and trees.

The garden is planted on soil raised 1.2 meters higher than before to be level with the 3-meter height of the living room.

The living room connects with the dining area beneath the mezzanine, with the kitchen behind the glass door

The metal bookshelf reaching almost to the mezzanine also acts as weight-bearing support for the staircase behind it.

The first floor has a high “double volume” ceiling for more natural light and ventilation. A steel staircase rises from the living room to the mezzanine, which holds a workroom and guest bedroom, and up to the second floor, the owner’s private space.

The single staircase up from the carport connects everything from the ground to the top floor.

Mezzanine walkway with banister and protective grating steel is the primary building material, but natural materials such as bamboo are also important.

Bamboo shades cover the house façade, filtering sunlight, protecting against rain, giving privacy from outside view, yet still allowing good ventilation.

“We used steel not because we especially wanted to use steel, but because it was light, and we wanted that quality,” explained Boonlert.

“Each material has its own particular value. Coming up with a principle means coming up with the quality we want. Design is a value in itself.”

The architecture of this house reflects modern times. It’s surrounded by the natural environment people long for, so no matter chaotic and confused the outside world, in this home there’s a mood of relaxation and contentment: it’s just a great place to live.

Elevated porch connecting to the garden.

Architect: Boonlert Hemvijitraphan of Boon Design (www.boondesign.co.th)

Bangkok Is Top Global Destination City, Continued Growth Forecast for 2017

By livingasean
October 2, 2017
BUZZ,EXPLORE

Bangkok was at the highest place on the chart of Top Ten Global Destination Cities attracting 19.41 million visitors in 2016, outranking London, Paris, Dubai, and Singapore. A Mastercard index released recently showed the Thai capital benefited the most from international travel, while further growth in visitor arrivals were in the forecast for 2017.

/// ASEAN ///

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), Bangkok / Photo: Tanakitt Khum-on

Visitor Volume

The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index predicted that Bangkok’s visitor arrivals would increase by 4.0 percent in the 2017 calendar year, while Singapore was forecast to move up one notch growing by 2.6 percent and outranking New York (at minus 2.4 percent). Meantime, Kuala Lumpur was likely to post a strong 7.2 percent gain in visitor arrivals for 2017, enabling it to keep its eighth place on the chart.

From 2009 to 2016, two ASEAN cities also saw strong growth in visitor arrivals, namely: Jakarta up 18.2 percent, and Hanoi up 16.4 percent. Of all 132 destinations across the globe, Osaka was at the top with a whopping 24.0 percent growth in overnight visitor arrivals during the 8-year period.

Overall, international visitors to leading global destination cities increased in the 2016 calendar year. As for 2017, Tokyo’s visitor numbers were forecast to increase by as much as 12.2 percent, making it the strongest growth in visitors among the top ten.

National Gallery Singapore / Photo: Sitthisak Namkham

Cross-border Spending

The Mastercard index was more than just a ranking of top destination cities across the globe. Apart from international visitor volume, it also looked into tourist spending that contributed to furthering economic growth of countries. For the 2016 calendar year, Dubai was at the top with overnight visitors spending $28.50 billion, followed by New York ($17.02 billion), London ($16.09 billion), Singapore ($15.69 billion), and Bangkok ($14.08 billion), all in USD. Destination cities benefited greatly from tourism. Shopping accounted for 22.9 percent of tourist spending, local service 21.5 percent, and food and beverages 20.6 percent).

Royal Palace, Bangkok / Photo: Aphirux Suksa

Reference:

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/digital-press-kits/mastercard-global-destination-cities-index-2017/

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mastercard-Destination-Cities-Index-Report.pdf

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Seven of the Hippest New Places Everyone in Bangkok Should Check Out

By livingasean
September 20, 2017
EXPLORE,JOURNEY

Here are seven newly opened spots you should make a point of seeing next time you visit Bangkok. They are not only great tourist spots, but museums of knowledge where you can enjoy yourself the whole day long.

/// THAILAND ///

Story: Weena Baramee /// Photography: Nantiya Busabong, Tanakitt Khum-on, Sitthisak Namkham, Soopakorn Srisakul, Ritthirong Chanthongsuk

Changchui

The new Changchui Creative Space on Sirindhorn Road sprawls over 4 acres (11 rai) with restaurant, coffee shop, and a wide variety of other shops scattered about. Inside you’ll see a collection of buildings often set at unusual angles and built mainly with recycled materials: corrugated iron, glass, wood panels, wrought iron, and old doors and windows such as you might see in Bangkok communities. The eclectic beauty of this mix is what gives Chanchui its unique identity. Here are all sorts of beautiful spots where it’s fun to pull out your phone and take selfies.

Link : www.changchuibangkok.com

YELO House

For 40 years a Ratchathewi district warehouse for printing equipment, after that this building sat abandoned and lifeless, but it’s now been transformed into a creative space for inventors, designers, artisans, and support personnel. The 480-square-meter indoor space holds an art gallery, office, meeting hall, co-working space, photo studio, and an area for holding workshops and organizing events. The name YELO comes from “You Ever Live Once,” expressing how the old warehouse has come back to life and vitality once more.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/yelohouse/

Warehouse 30

Creative Community Mall is the brainchild of Duangrit Bunnag, famous Thai architect and teacher. Here he has transformed an old warehouse from the mid-1940s into an exciting creative space stretching over 600 square meters and divided into rooms where visitors can dig in and indulge themselves in whatever catches their fancy at a co-working space, art exhibition, clothing store, flower shop, bookshop, hip coffee shop, and on and on. The space also includes the Warehouse 30 flea market for homemade articles and a multi-use space for setting up exhibits, workshops, or various events.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/TheWarehouse30/

Baan Bangkhen

Here’s a new vintage-style spot where the visitor can chill out and travel back in time to old Thailand, with lots of places with murals and scenes perfect for picture-taking. Almost every corner holds a treasure trove of knowledge from the past. The café and restaurant are open 24 hours, and also there’s a new building nostalgically designed as an old-style Thai commercial house full of an exciting collection of antique furniture and ornamentation.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/baanbangkhen/

TCDC Charoenkrung

TCDC has moved to a spiffy new location: the central post office building on Charoenkrung Road. An 8,700-square-meter area five stories high holds a general library, material library, makerspace, co-working space, workshop, and an area for small or large exhibitions. The building was built in 1940 C.E, Throughout the building and especially on the front, you’ll see beautiful period art deco works commissioned by the Department of Architecture.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/tcdc.thailand/

Bangkok City Library

The Bangkok City Library at the Khok Wua Intersection is a true learning center. Filling a space of more than 4,590 square meters, its light-colored walls, high ceiling, glass windows, and skylights give a feeling of spacious comfort that simply invites you to sit down for a good read. The library is 4 storeys high, books arranged by category on each storey, with comfortable seating in every corner.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/bangkokcitylibrary/

Siam Serpentarium

This repository of knowledge about the lives of snakes offers a mixed media exhibition light and sound show suitable for people of any age and gender. The building is in three main sections: the “virtual museum” zone which holds the mixed media show with lifelike models and 3-dimensional pictures, a “snake garden” with more than 50 species of snakes both common and rare, and the “Naga Theater.” In this last zone snake doctors demonstrate how to extract snake venom from live specimens, and there is a stage play about naga and garuda legends.

Link : https://www.facebook.com/siamserpentarium/

Right Renovation Leads to a Pleasing Hip, Modern Brick House

By livingasean
August 14, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

/ Story: Foryeah!/ English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Nantiya Busabong /

The houses in this area all looked the same when parents brought the owner of this newly renovated house here when he was a child; now he has renovated their home into a hip, modern brick house with 200 square meters of usable space on a property of 400 square meters.

modern brick house — The lower floor retains the old “tai thun” space below, a brick wall with angled patterns perforated for ventilation on the floor above.

“After studying abroad I lived in a condo for years, but modern urban life is too full of needless accessories, so I finally came back to this house for its serenity and privacy,” said Roj Kanjanabanyakhom, the owner and architect of his own home.

“I like peace and quiet, listening to music, watching movies, and that’s enough.”

A staircase up to the hobby room, apparently playfully designed for legs of different lengths.

The old house wall was removed in favor of tall “picture windows”

An architect himself, he was the designer and construction supervisor. Since the house was in an old condition, there were a lot of problems: leaks and seepage, rusty pipes, etc., even asbestos tile, now recognized as carcinogenic.

The structure of the house had to be almost completely torn down to its basic frame: pillars, beams, and a couple of walls.

Striking improvements were made to suit Roj’s lifestyle in both the new building at the front and the old house at the back. The newly built structure at the front consists of bright orange brick walls with ventilation spaces below.

A former open “tai thun” (the space beneath the stilt) area, half the ground floor, became his own bicycle maintenance shop, with the other half a carport.

On the second floor is a hobby workshop, and above that a roof deck where support pillars are capped with metal plates in anticipation of future additions.

At the back, the 2.4-meter outside wall of the old house was demolished and replaced with tall glass windows all around for a spacious feeling.

Bedrooms on the second floor were removed to create a “double space” area, and a projector was set up behind one wall for full-size movie viewing.

A skylight was put in to let sunlight in all day, relieving the stuffy, damp, dark atmosphere, and polycarbonate tile was laid on floor and walls.

“There were some difficult structural and material design limitations in the old house,” said Roj.

“Parts of the old roof weren’t able to support much weight, so besides replacing the asbestos with double Roman tile we used metal purlin trusses instead of wood.

“To avoid joint problems where the new roof meets the old gabled one, we used steel-reinforced flat slab concrete, which will be able to hold the weight of future additions.

“Sometimes it’s easier and cheaper just to tear everything out,” he continued. “But I renovated because I wanted to preserve the memories here,” said Roj with a smile.

And so here’s a home filled with remembrance, ready to bring present and future memories into the mix.

Owner/Architect: Roj Kanjanabanyakhom of Atom Design (www.facebook.com/atom.design.bkk)

A Breathtaking Trio of Modern Loft-Style Homes in Bangkok

By livingasean
August 13, 2017
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Bangkok, Thailand /

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

/ Photographs: Tanakitt Khum-on /

In former times as families outgrew their homes, by tradition Thais would put in more houses on the same property. They shared basic facilities and landscaping fitting together to form a cohesive whole. But this tradition has been disappearing. Nowadays, grown children move away into single-family homes of their own. In this case, though, Manit and Yanrak Manithikhun decided to build a trio of modern loft-style houses as future homes for their children on their piece of land.

The trio of modern steel framed homes are connected by the perfect pathway with a private garden in the middle.

“We knew our sons would want their private space, and we had a sizeable piece of land. We thought it would be a good idea to build three new houses right here for them in the same place,” said Manit.

“The three new buildings include one common house where the whole family can get together. It’s for entertaining guests, too. And I wanted an herb garden. Thinking forward to retirement!”

Steel frames and brick walls: the hip, unfinished “loft” look.

The three new homes were added to the existing principle house of parents that was built after the big floods hit Bangkok in 2011. The expansion plan included a private garden and common space where the family could spend time together.

It was made up of two steel framed loft-style houses for the sons and one building as a common room. By and large, it was designed to serve and filled in many parts that were missing in life, a garden and common room where the family can spend time together.

“The kids wanted the style to be simple and unfinished. The houses all have the same design, but they’ll change and take on the personalities of the families living in them,” Manit explained.

“I added the garden and shady spots. I wanted a resort-like feeling, and we have that now: garden, swimming pool, all in our own home.”

The cantilever deck that’s a part of the common building reaches out above the pool creating an impression of a home floating on water.

Besides a great family home with delightful common space, the architects also designed the house to be eco-friendly. The roofs were set at a 15-degree angle, facing south to prevent full sun exposure. All the houses – even the carports – have solar panels, reducing energy costs of the whole residence by 50%.

Solar cell panels installed on the roof at a 15-degree slant offer 50% savings on energy bills.

“We chose the steel house frame not only for speed in building, but also because there’s less noise pollution during construction than using other materials,” said house architect Piriya Techaratpong.

“Plus it gives a wider choice of forms than traditional concrete or column and beam structures, and is many times cheaper than building a concrete weight-bearing wall.

“The common house has spaced steel columns, with lightweight lines that give the impression the building is floating over the pool below. This is the elegant design we were trying for.”

The result of all this? A design that’s an expression of the unconditional love and aspirations these parents feel for their children.

Owner: Manit and Yanrak Manithikhun

Architect: Mee-D Architect Co., Ltd. (www.facebook.com/MeeDArchitect) by Piriya Techaratpong and Pawit Chuankumnerdkarn

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Blog : Bangkok

This beautiful place is home to a large, multigenerational family. With family members from 8 to 84 years old, what stories it tells! Here belongings passed down across nearly a century give a sense of modern oriental flavor to every corner of its design.

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Visit the original Thai version.

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In this final month before the New Year, wherever you look in Bangkok you’ll see joyous festivities with colorful lights. Come with Living ASEAN to six of them!

Thailand Illumination Festival 2017 – Ratchada

Beautiful Bangkok – Magnolia Ratchadamri Boulevard

LIGHT UP CHRISTMAS TREE CELEBRATION – Central World

Harry Potter: Christmas in the Wizarding World – Siam Paragon

Let’s Celebrate 2018: The Holidays Bring Me Here – Central Embassy

Winter Wonderland the Grand Celebration – The Emquartier – EMPORIUM

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This box-shaped steel house, hidden in shady green woods, has a cool, peaceful resort atmosphere. – hard to believe it’s right in the middle of a congested city!

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Here are seven newly opened spots you should make a point of seeing next time you visit Bangkok. They are not only great tourist spots, but museums of knowledge where you can enjoy yourself the whole day long.

Changchui

YELO House

Warehouse 30

Baan Bangkhen

TCDC Charoenkrung

Bangkok City Library

Siam Serpentarium

The houses in this area all looked the same when parents brought the owner of this newly renovated house here when he was a child; now he has renovated their home into a hip, modern brick house with 200 square meters of usable space on a property of 400 square meters.

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