/ Surat Thani, Thailand /
/ Story: Ottomaan / English version: Bob Pitakwong /
/ Photographs: Sungwan Phratem /
If relaxing on the seafront is your idea of paradise, here’s a house overlooking a quiet stretch of sand away from the crowds. It is not often that we come across a home perched on a pristine hillside. This captivating house on the rock stands out amid lush greenery in Samui, a popular resort island in the Gulf of Thailand.
The house sits tight on a slope just shy of an acre in extent, hemmed by huge rock faces and views of exuberant vegetation. From afar, it’s hard to tell the shape of the building as it’s situated at a lower level than the road in front of it.
The landscape strewn with large boulders forces the home to be built in multiple separate units, each anchored to a rock face to secure its place. Overall, it’s a crisp, clean and modern design, with neat exteriors under a shed roof.
Because of conditions that cannot be changed, asymmetrical shapes are used, while the typical rectangular shapes are avoided so as to achieve the form, color and texture that blend well with the natural surroundings.
The separate units of construction are set at slightly different levels depending on ground conditions. The shed roof above the main villa creates a wide open façade looking out over the ocean. To arouse visual interest, diagonal lines are applied to the exteriors, a clever hack that gives the home a friendly, warm and welcoming appeal.
The main villa has two levels. The upstairs living room is bright and breezy with panoramic ocean views. For indoor thermal comfort, the exterior walls are covered in timber strips evenly spaced to create gaps in between for air passing through.
Where appropriate, parts of the building envelope are built of bricks covered with plaster for a neat appearance, while windows are glazed using transparent glass to get a better view. The upper floor also extends to connect with a spacious sundeck used as al fresco dining room.
The ground floor connects to a lush lawn, with trees and foliage plants growing luxuriantly on one side. Nearby, floor-to-ceiling windows fill the home with light and remove anything standing in the way between indoors and outdoors. There’s also a lounge where people can sit and relax a short distance away from a semi-formal dining room and contemporary-style pantry.
Opposite from the main villa stand two outbuildings accessible via a stepping-stone garden pathway. One is a single-story unit holding a bedroom with a semi-outdoor bathroom en suite, while the other sits slightly lower than the rest. At a glance, the floor plans and general appearances are reminiscent of sundecks on a cruise ship.
The master bedroom is comfortably ensconced in the smaller building anchored to a huge boulder. The edge of the building can be seen projecting outward to soak up the sea view.
For safe walking from one building to the other, areas with uneven ground are smoothed out to make room for a lawn with garden pathway. With the passage of time, nature gives the large boulder and nearby rocks the perfect weather-beaten faces that blend with the house and surrounding landscapes.
Taken as a whole, it’s an intriguing amalgam of natural touches and well-thought-out planning that makes this house on the rock a perfect place to be.
Architect: Kusol Im Erbsin
Visit the original Thai article…
บ้านโมเดิร์น ทรงเหลี่ยมๆ บนหินทรงกลม ๆ
You may also like…
Baan Somjai: Where Time Seems to Stand Still on Pha-Ngan Island
T House: A Stylish Home in Cha-Am at the Cutting Edge of Modern Design