/ Story: Panchat Changchan / English version: Bob Pitakwong /
/ Photographs: Rittirong Tongjunsuk /
A drab and gray ordinary exterior belies a concrete house’s exciting interior rich in eclectic styles.
Inspired by simple living as a lifestyle choice, Krishnapong Meechunuk the homeowner can still recall leaving behind the chaos of the workplace and heading for the North of Thailand.
He puts in a dream home in Chiang Mai, where life begins again as farmer in a simple L-shaped house. Charcoal powder is added to the mix to create concrete wall textures in dark shades of gray. But that is not the only thing unique about this concrete house.
Inside, each room showcases an original decorating style. The living room shows signs of a tilt toward vintage décor, among them a wall-mounted mirror in a French-style frame.
At the center an elegant marble coffee table stands in front of a red sofa with butterfly chair in matching hues. The set was bought from a Paris flea market. A kitty-corner from it stands a glass-front armory filled with souvenirs from theaters around the world. Black stage curtains at the entrance conjure up images of an opera house foyer.
The modern workspace says a lot about the homeowner’s passion and a lifetime of journeys. The work desk is made from a section of an aircraft wing that comes coated in nickel. A set of silver color chests of drawers accentuate the cozy appeal of the room.
Close at hand, the reading room speaks to the industrial loft style. Bookshelf poles and brackets are made of water pipes adapted for different uses. The emphasis on repurposing is inspired by a clothing store in New York.
“This is the first house that meets my expectations in every detail,” said the owner. “I did the decoration at my other houses in Bangkok too, but because they were move-in ready homes, design choices were limited.
“For this concrete house, I had the freedom to mix and match all the ingredients and styles myself. I’m very proud and very happy.”
/ Story: Wuthikorn Suthiapa / English version: Bob Pitakwong /
/ Photographs: Rithirong Chanthongsuk /
Forget big old mansions. There are ways to make your home feel cozy, warm and welcoming without burning a hole in your pocket. Carefully thought out, an ordinary place of abode can transform into a salubrious holiday destination. Here’s one picturesquely situated among the fruit trees in the lush countryside of Rayong, a coastal province made famous by fruit orchards about two hours’ drive from Bangkok.
The country house with contemporary flair stands in perfect harmony with its natural environment. For the homeowner and his family, time spent among the trees is time never wasted. It’s easy to get why they have long wanted to grow a fruit farm in this part of the country.
Here, the spiny Tropical fruit with a creamy pulp called “Durian” is an agricultural crown jewel. So upon acquiring the land, the homeowner asked an architect friend of his to design a wooden house set in the most beautiful surroundings. And the rest was history.
Proximity to a large water body made it necessary to position the house facade facing west and confronting the afternoon sun.
To dissipate heat and prevent it from entering the home, the architect stepped up to the challenge by putting in a terrace in front of the building and planted leafy trees to shade the area. It turned out to be a clever solution that maintained a comfortable indoor climate all year round.
Technically speaking, the modern country house among the trees is made up of four modules — three bedrooms and a living area with open air kitchen. They are conveniently connected via a system of corridors that also double as multi-use spaces.
The wooden walkways are raised a good distance from the ground to improve ventilation beneath the floorboard, resulting in thermal comfort in the interior living spaces.
Sharing her experience with us, architect Kanika Ratanapridakul said: “Had I designed it differently, the interior living space would have become very uncomfortable. So to create efficient ventilation, I put in plenty of windows and chose a high-roofed design.
“If it were one big building, the house would have looked bulky and taken up too much space. I took advantage of the space that we had to craft a house consisting of four separate modules, each of which served specific functions.
“And the result of all this was a charming country house with contemporary flair, one that was designed for cozy and comfortable living. On the outside, the spaces between different modules provided peaceful corners for relaxation plus pleasant surprises waiting to be discovered.”
From her point of view, it was a mission accomplished and something to be proud of. The homeowner has got exactly what he has been longing for, a handsome country house where the time goes by slowly every time he comes for a visit. It’s a family holiday retreat only for now. The homeowner intends to live here for permanently after retirement.
/ Story: Wuthikorn Suthiapa / English version: Bob Pitakwong /
/ Photographs: Sitthisak Namkham /
An old-styled waterfront house was recreated for modern living in Chiang Mai. It is made up of a coffee shop, piano classroom and a private space for the family.
“I want to emulate the Thai style waterfront home of the past, kind of set on land that slightly descends to the riverbank. Like so, the new home is designed with respect for nature. Meantime, it embraces all features that are up to date, from materials to style to character.” So said the designers when asked to elaborate on the concept behind this home project.
The handsome waterfront house featuring smooth exteriors and eye-catching roof design is affectionately called “Baan Muan,” literally home of baby Muan.
The Mae Kao, a tributary that flows past the property, inspires the owners to create an old-styled waterfront home. The design celebrates the water feature and pristine foliage that have long been the charm of this suburb of Chiang Mai.
The homeowners, Nathee and Kanokwan Nateniyom inherited this piece of land from their grandma. Their baby was born while the construction project was underway.
So both the home and the baby were given the same name. Ekapab Duangkaew from EKARand Arthasith Kongmonkhol from Full Scale Studio were responsible for the design.
A well-kept lawn is used as the only access to the house’s main entrance. Walking on grass adds fun and excitement to nature inspired lifestyle.
As Ekapab put it, “We were so fortunate to have received full freedom to conceptualize this project. Arthasith and I then proceeded to develop a waterfront house design with an emphasis on relationships with the surrounding terrain features. Various functions were laid out based on their proximity to the water’s edge or existing patches of greenery.
“The next step was about translating the concept to meet the homeowners’ needs and personality.”
A coffee shop is the first thing visible from afar. It separates semi-public spaces from the private zone without obstructing views of the modern front home. Dark stained wood clad exteriors subtly set the shop apart from the rest of the property.
In so doing, the designers had to identify features that were typical of the waterfront house of the past. They looked into every design from Post-Modern to Minimalist in a bid to arrive at a common ground.
The final design showcased the main hallway as the centerpiece of this new home.
Nature permeates through the landscape that rolls down into the waterfront area below. Meanwhile, it serves as the dividing line between different functions on the property.
“At the time we didn’t have a specific design in mind. We just said that we preferred open spaces. My husband wanted to put Mom’s coffee shop in front. For us, we needed a piano room for practicing and giving music lessons at home. Basically, that was it,” said Kanokwan.
Hence the open interior space was the goal. The plan envisaged the main hallway, the kitchen and seating areas for everyone merging into one big space.
The coffee shop features a sundeck that looks out over the waterfront area. (An interior makeover project was underway on the day we visited.)The white exterior walls showcase sharp geometric shapes as the designer intended. Clean line design advocates the uncluttered look typical of the minimalist style and leaves plenty of room for nature to pervade.
“I like sitting here,” said Nathee referring to the big dining table.“The waterfront is on this side. Meantime, the main entrance opens to the front yard. On the other side, Kanokwan and the baby are playing on the sofa. They make for relaxing interior spaces and I like it here.
“If asked to describe this home, I will just make it brief – cozy”
Like several picture frames coming together on a lush lawn, the home not only looks stylish on the outside but also adds variety to the rolling landscape.
The open plan design of the waterfront house meets the needs of this small family of three. Everyone is aware of everything that goes on inside the vibrant interior spaces. It is the kind of plan that merges all parts of the house into one great room.
The designers reserve the second floor for privacy. The first floor has a playroom for the kid and the piano room for Kanokwan. The rest is open.
Open plan design ensures that all interior spaces are easily accessible. Large windows allow abundant natural light and provide visual continuity to the water’s edge.The child’s playroom makes way for family activity spaces for the time being. The piano was recently moved in here along with Dad’s guitar.
The property comes in two zones, business and residential. The coffee shop sits in front and is covered in natural wood palettes.
From the outside looking in, the roof design is eye-catching in every respect. As a matter of fact, its unique look is dictated by interior design needs.
The designer puts bedrooms on the second floor, leaving the spacious first floor for seating spaces. Kanokwan plans to give music lessons at home in future.
“It has to do with how we want to view the great outdoors from within the home. For this reason, the main hallway steps aside just a little bit so that the waterfront area can be seen in full view from the bedroom. Likewise, one side of the coffee shop offers a sundeck that overlooks the water’s edge.
“It is never meant to be jazzy. Rather we take into account advantages and disadvantages of every component before arriving at the final design,” Nathee explained.
The homeowners wanted to leave the existing tree where it was, and the designer got that. So the terrace was built around the tree while the building itself was kept a good distance away.
By now, our readers probably feel they have been mistaken all along about design intentions. A house that looks showy at first sight may not be showy after all. Rather it is designed for easy waterfront living based on existing terrain features and homeowner needs.
All things considered, it strikes the right balance to showcase a new kind of waterfront home, one with an eye-catching minimalist style.
[left] The lacy shade of tall trees casts interesting light patterns on the home’s white exteriors. [right] An artist’s rendition shows relationships between building formations and areas near the water’s edge. The drawing demonstrates how existing trees are preserved while the land is being readied for the home project.
Marketing/Advertising Cookies – used to remember and process the relevance to your website visit in order to personalize contents shown including optimization of commercial advertising placements. For instances, we use this type of cookies to display commercial advertisements related to user’s attributes and interests as well as to limit how many times should a user see repeated advertisement in order to optimize and measure marketing activities. อ่านเพิ่มเติม
บ้านปูน สีเทาเข้มท่ามกลางธรรมชาติบนเขา
