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The Modern Thai House : Innovative Designs in Tropical Asia

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Published by BS_Library, 2019-12-18 22:32:24

The Modern Thai House

The Modern Thai House : Innovative Designs in Tropical Asia

Keywords: Thai House

BAAN JEW

CHIANGMAI
ARCHITECT: KHWANCHAI SUTHAMSAO
AND TANIT CHOOMSANG
PLANKRICH ARCHITECTS

26 6
13 7

4

5

1 Garage
2 Entrance
3 Living room
4 Kitchen
5 Veranda
6 Store
7 Laundry

N

01 5 10 meters

Baan Jew, translated as ‘Tiny House’, is a met Tanit, his two fellow directors were
compact modern dwelling on a 220-square outstation during the Songkran Festival and I
meter corner plot near Chiangmai Univer- was informed they were ‘driving to China’.
sity. Kwanchai Suthansoa and Tanit
Choomsang, the Executive Director of Built for just one million baht (£30k), the
Plankrich Architects, designed the 165- simple two-bedroom Baan Jew demonstrates
square meter house set within a small the architects’ ability to create a beautiful
garden for Nawaree Summasanti, a retired object on a limited budget. The ground floor
automotive engineer. of the house is raised one meter above the
level of the garden and entered by a short
Tanit Choomsang studied architecture at flight of stairs. The house is designed to make
Ratchamangala University of Technology the maximum use of available space and is
Lanna in Chiangmai and then pursued a built without excess. Materials are modest.
Masters in Urban Design at the prestigious Walls are fair-faced concrete and floors
University of the West of England in the polished cement. Ceilings are relatively low
UK, before returning to Chiangmai where at 2.7 meters and space uses are planned to
he set up practise in 2005 with fellow overlap. Cross-ventilation is achieved by
architect Khwanchai Suthamsao, a graduate opening the entrance door. An open-sided
of King Mongkul Institute of Technology staircase gives the appearance of additional
Ladkrabang, and civil engineer Sakchai volume in the living area. A steep internal
Thongpanchang. ladder gives access to a roof deck from the
upper floor, and a roof light along the
Plankrich Architects is an inventive boundary wall introduces daylight.
architectural practice whose other notable
projects include Baan Khun Kaew and Mo The lesson to be learned from Baan Jew is
Rooms, a twelve room boutique hotel in that it is not necessary for a house to be large or
Chiangmai that the venerable Dr Sumet Jumsai for money to be lavished on expensive materials.
has hailed as ‘one of the most exciting designs I Here, simple, clean lines and the manipulation
have ever seen’.1 Plankrich is based in a striking of space and light create a tiny jewel.
minimalist modern office, also designed by the
practise, with a cake shop at the entrance for 1 Sumet Jumsai, in correspondence with the author,
staff and passersby. In mid-April 2011, when I 19 April 2011.

Above The house Top First floor plan. Pages 146–7 Baan Jew Right Materials are
demonstrates the is a compact modern modest, such as the
architects’ ability to house for a retired off-form concrete
create a beautiful automotive engineer. external walls.
dwelling on a limited
budget.



THE

150 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

Top and left The Above left and right A
compact living and steep ladder provides
dining area, with an access to the roof and a
open-sided staircase skylight brings daylight
to the upper level. into the main stairwell.

151

Top A spacious roof Above and right The
terrace gives views living area is extended
to the horizon. out to a sheltered
veranda raised one
meter above the
ground.

SOI WAT UMONG HOUSE

CHIANGMAI
ARCHITECT: AROON PURITAT OF AROON
PURITAT ARCHITECT IN ASSOCIATION WITH
FERNLUND + LOGAN ARCHITECTS

Directional Pic caption Directional Pic caption
body in here Sed mo body in here Sed mo
dolor ip exeratu eros dolor ip exeratu eros
trud dolobor sus cidunt trud dolobor sus cidunt
alisit lam, vel dit dolum alisit lamvel dit dolum
zzrit enim vo lous cidu zzrit enim vo lous.
nt a lisit lamvel ditus





155

The Soi Watt Umong House is a ‘Miesien’ while Aroon was researching his graduate Promchai to finalize certain details, such as
composition of concrete and glass pavilions thesis on contemporary art museums. In the the auspicious positioning of the entrance
grouped around a courtyard and set in process, he had examined works such as Pad door. She recommended that ‘the house
secondary tropical forest. The site is located Thai (Untitled 1990) by Rirkrit. He also entrance be from east to west, that the kitchen
close to Chiangmai University in Thailand’s worked with Rirkrit on The Land, a com- should face north—the person cooking
second largest city. munity of artists close to Chiangmai (1998). should face north—and that there must not
be any water in the middle of the home’.3
The owners of the house are Rirkrit The house was to be built without destroy- Aroon adjusted the drawings to fit the site,
Tiravanija, an internationally acclaimed ing any trees on the site so at the outset all the the available materials and the capabilities
Thai artist,1 born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, trees were marked. The other requirements of the construction industry in Chiangmai
in 1961, who spent his childhood years in included a workroom for Rirkrit and a and then finalized the architectural drawings
Ethiopia and Thailand, and his Japanese/ photography studio for his wife. The owners for submission to the authorities.
American wife Antoinette Aurell, a photog- consulted feng shui master Kochakorn
rapher who worked in Paris and New York
before moving to Chiangmai. The couple
live with Antoinette’s two children from a
previous marriage, a boy who is studying at
an international school in Chiangmai and
a daughter who attends college in the US.

The design of the house originated from
a physical model constructed by Rirkrit in
2005. Photographs of the model were sent to
Neil Logan (of Fernland + Logan Architects
in New York), an American architect and
friend, who made modifications to the
structure and designed built-in closets,
kitchen shelves and stainless steel work
surfaces. The drawings were later passed to
Aroon Puritat, a graduate of the Faculty of
Architecture at Silpakorn University, who
resides in Chiangmai.2 The two had met

1 Carport
2 Entrance
4 Living room
7 Master bedroom
12 Central courtyard

12 4 12 7

Left The high-ceilinged Top The water court Pages 152–3 The house 01 5 10 meters
studio looks out to an returns along the flank is located in secondary
of the studio. forest close to Chiang-
enclosed water court. mai University.
Above Section drawing.

7 13 THE
6 MODERN
10 9 12
3 2 THAI
8 41 HOUSE
11
5 1 Carport
8 11 2 Entrance
3 Covered walkway
4 Living room
5 Dining/kitchen
6 Studio
7 Master bedroom
8 Bedroom
9 Study
10 Courtyard
11 Timber deck
12 Central courtyard
13 Water garden

N 01 5 10 meters

The design process included Paponsak Tomkins of the New Yorker on 17 October architects continued with frequent emails
Laor, who contributed jade green tiles for the 2005, Rirkrit stated that many of the concepts from Neil Logan that were translated and
bedroom and inner courtyard wall; Professor behind his work borrow from Buddhism, implemented by Aroon Puritat.
Kamin Lertchaiprasert, who produced large where Doing Less is the same as not trying
drawings of a dragon, intending it to be to embellish or make something more than Essentially, the house has an orthogonal
applied to the ceiling of the library and a what it is. U-shaped plan around a central courtyard.
phoenix for the ceiling of the carport; Soft dappled light penetrates into the heavily
Sethatwut Pinyorit, who was responsible ‘I am fascinated by architecture,’ explains planted central court and a gentle breeze
for various structural features, and Taneeya Rirkrit, who in 1996 produced a 1:2 scale rustles the leaves. The house is remarkable
Yuktadatta, who advised on lighting design. reconstruction of Philip Johnson’s Glass for its silence. The structure is basically a
House at New York MoMA. ‘In particular, concrete frame with concrete block and glass
The collaborative relationship was by all I am interested in modernism and the idea infill. The ground floor is lifted one meter
accounts challenging as Aroon strove to of self-criticism it contains [and] the con- above the terrain—typical of traditional Thai
reconcile his architectural training and the ceptual problems relating to it.’5 houses—in order to avoid mud and flood-
requirements for a coherent end product water after heavy rain and also vermin. In
with Rirkrit’s desire for ‘incompleteness’ for Towards the end of 2005, Rirkrit and addition, it permits under-floor ventilation.
the house. For an architect, a commission Antoinette moved from the USA to Chiang- A shaded timber deck runs around the
that invites experimentation at each step is mai to supervise the construction of the perimeter of the central garden giving access
rare. The result, as one writer has noted, is house although Rirkrit insists that the house to the various functions.
that the dwelling is, in a sense, a ‘new work’ was really ‘designed’ by the workers on the
by the artist arrived at through the medium site and that it was a hand-made process, An ever-present character in the remark-
of architecture.4 In an interview with Calvin ‘closer to sculpture than architecture’.6 The able house is Harry—the friendly offspring
collaboration between the owners and the of a French bulldog and a Boston terrier that
Above First floor plan.

Top A timber walkway Above The master Above The bathroom
encircles the central bedroom has a distinct design is based on a
courtyard. Japanese influence with traditional Japanese
dimensions derived tub.
from a tatami mat.



159

appears whenever a photograph is about to 1 The artist’s work focuses on the creation of spaces magazine, and for Wallpaper magazine (Thai
be taken, along with another less ebullient of interaction, which allow art to unfold as com- edition).
old dachshund named Torru. munication—as ‘what happens between people’. He
has presented solo shows at the Secession, Vienna 3 Rirkrit Tiravanija, in conversation with Rachaporn
The focus of family life is the open-plan (2002), the Serpentine Gallery, London (2005) and Choohuey, Aroon Puritat and Stefano Mirti, ‘La
kitchen and dining area adjoining the living the Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Casa di Rirkrit Tiravanija’, Arbitare, No. 478, Milan,
area, which has a large square kitchen table, (2005). He is guest professor at Columbia University, February 2008, pp. 2–13.
a smaller kopi tiam table and a sunken pit in New York.
the living space for gatherings of family and 4 Sant Suwatcharapinun, ‘Rirkrit House’, art4d,
friends. 2 Aroon Puritat has built several of his architectural No. 140, Bangkok, August 2007.
designs, including the Annex House (2001) in
There is a distinct Japanese influence in Chiangmai and the Mud House for the Chiangmai 5 Rirkrit Tiravanija, op. cit.
the interior design, specifically in the master Art Museum (2002). He also works as a freelance
bedroom, which is based on the dimensions writer for art4d, an art, design and architecture 6 Ibid.
of a tatami mat, with futons spread on the
floor. Sliding timber wall panels and the
proportions of the fenestration also attest to
a Japanese sensibility. The master bathroom
was designed by Antoinette based on a tra-
ditional Japanese tub. The circular staircase
up to the studio office was a direct copy from
Charles Eames, while the office shelving was
a modified copy of a Charlotte Perriand wall
unit. Antoinette and Rirkrit selected all the
interior and exterior finishes, including
terrazzo, tiles and wood.

Guided by the expertise of a horticulturist
friend, Stuart Rodgers, Antoinette was
initiated into planting and gardening and has
developed an obsession with tropical plants.
In the northern corner of the site she has
created what she describes jokingly as a petit
trainon, an enclosed tropical garden that
alludes to a space in the Palace of Versailles
where her namesake Maria Antoinette and
invited guests ‘could take light meals away
from the strict étiquette of the Court’.

Left The circular Top The sunken pit in Above left A section Above right The
staircase to the studio the living area provides of the timber walkway entrance to the house.
is a direct copy from a space for gatherings that encircles the
Charles Eames. of family and friends. central courtyard.

CASA DE UMBRELLA

SANKAMPAENG
ARCHITECT: SOMCHAI JONGSAENG
DECA ATELIER



Completed in 2009, Casa de Umbrella is a Thailand’s foremost yachtsmen, and he the ground floor, are naturally ventilated
highly unusual house clad with a plaited regularly features on the leader board of the while the living area and the dining area on
bamboo ‘skin’ that extends, like a huge Phuket King’s Cup, Asia’s premier yachting the upper floor, accessed by an open-riser
tent, over a supporting steel structure. The event, sailing his trimaran ‘Cedar Swan’. steel staircase, are both open-sided. There is a
purpose of the woven bamboo is to filter sense of living in a huge sala with immediate
out the sun’s direct rays, but it also adds The architect of the two-story house is visual and olfactory connection with the
a rare touch of magic and experimental Somchai Jongsaeng of DECA Atelier, a natural environment. In the afternoons, an
originality. As the house name implies, the Bangkok-based designer whose own intermittent breeze springs up from the
design employs the metaphor of a bamboo residence I published in 2001.1 Somchai northeast to stir the air and there is a pleasant
parasol to shade the living areas. worked in close collaboration with the owner sound of wind chimes suspended from the
who was enthusiastic to experiment with eaves. The roof has wide overhangs, yet the
Located in Sankampaeng province some structural and cladding solutions. The openness of the main living areas requires
42 kilometers to the east of Chiangmai in a supporting structure is playful, with that bamboo chick blinds be lowered when it
broad valley fringed by mountains, the house 100-mm-diameter inclined RHS columns rains heavily. The bamboo umbrella performs
lies within the Chiangmai Highlands Golf beneath the bamboo umbrella while electrical a secondary function of protecting the house
Resort adjacent to the third green. Radab services are surface-mounted in conduit. occupants from the occasional miss-hit golf
Kanjanavanit, the owner of the house, is a Various mechanical and electrical devices ball that soars over the third green.
structural engineer and Managing Director supplement the natural ventilation to ensure
of RKV Engineering Consultants. He is a comfortable conditions. These include A steel bridge gives access to the bed-
self-confessed golf addict, but a 4x4 vehicle, misting devices and outdoor radiant heating, room wing from the living area. The air-
two powerful Suzuki motorbikes and four for nights can be very cold in the highlands. conditioned master bedroom, which has an
mountain bikes in the carport, all superbly attached open-to-sky bathroom, extends to a
maintained, speak of a passion for other The open texture of the bamboo umbrella sheltered semi-outdoor space with a bed and
outdoor activities; indeed, he is one of permits the house to breathe. The reception mosquito net for sleeping under the stars on
area and kitchen/breakfast area, located on

Above Located in Pages 160–1 The semi- Above right A large
Chiangmai Highlands transparent house retention pond along-
Golf Club, the site is a appears to float above side the house is a
broad valley fringed the landscape. water hazard on the
by mountains. golf course.

CASA DE UMBRELLA 163

5 1 Carport
2 Garage
36 3 Bedroom
4 4 Bathroom
5 Kitchen
6 Terrace
7 Swimming pool

N

7

01 5 10 meters

3 2
4 1

Above First floor plan.

THE

164 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

Above left The Above right The semi-
transparency in the outdoor dining space,
house is evident in the with a wide oversailing
view from the living roof and permeable
area to the master walls.
bedroom.

CASA DE UMBRELLA 165

cool nights. The bedroom is the most The material was placed in water to make it and terraces as it steps down the precipitous
personal space in the house and here there pliable and then rendered with a chemical slope, in the process framing impressive views
is an opportunity to display contemporary solution to enhance durability. of the ocean. Some of the structural details,
art works. Overall, the house is light and like those of Casa de Umbrella, reflect the
airy, relying on the cool breezes in this Radab Kanjanavanit is the owner of owner’s expert knowledge of yacht technology.
mountainous region to refresh the living another impressive house, also designed in
areas. The transparency of the house becomes collaboration with Somchai Jongsaeng, 1 Robert Powell, ‘Somchai Jongsaeng House’, The
increasingly evident at dusk when, from a located on a cliff face near the Yacht Marina New Asian House, Select Publishing, Singapore,
distance, the organic profile of the roof in Phuket. That house, too, is experimental, 2001, pp. 164–7.
merges with the skyline of the distant hills. incorporating a variety of bridges, elevators
Once the golfers and their motorized carts
have departed in the early evening, the house
becomes quiet and secluded.

A 25-meter lap pool and outdoor showers
contribute to a relaxed, resort-like ambience,
and a small gym and massage room overlook
a retention pond at the edge of the golf
course that assists in cooling the house. A
timber deck extends from the living room
over the pool.

Materials include thermoplastic tiles on
the external roof and walls, plaster/cement
rendering on internal walls, polished cement
floors and stained chipboard. But the pre-
dominant memory is of the unique bamboo
cladding, resembling a permeable brown
cloak draped over the structure and
suspended over the open veranda. The
bamboo was specially selected and was
recommended by artisans who had worked
with the architect on a project in Chiangrai.

11 8 12 13
3 6

01 5 10 meters 3 Bedroom 11 Balcony
6 Terrace 12 Living area
8 Master bedroom 13 Dining area

Top A sheltered out- Above Section drawing.
door bed space draped
with a mosquito net for
sleeping ‘beneath the
stars’.



3 Bedroom
6 Terrace
7 Swimming pool
13 Dining area
14 Timber deck

13
14

7 3
6

01 5 10 meters

Above Section drawing. Left A steel bridge Above left The air- Top Permeable walls
connects the living area conditioned master enclose the breakfast
and the more private bedroom overlooks area.
bedroom. the living/dining area.

CAROL GRODZINS’ HOUSE

SANSAI ORCHARD, CHIANGMAI
ARCHITECT: PATTAWADEE ROOGROJDEE
AND APICHAT SRIARUN
639 ARCHITECTS CO. LTD.



THE

170 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

The inspiration for Carol Grodzins’ House America—nuclear war—by launching the
was a Dayak longhouse in Borneo. In the Massachusetts Nuclear Freeze Movement. In
1960s, the owner, after completing her 1989, bringing together her commitments
undergraduate studies in Russian Language to international development, public policy
and Literature in the US, decided to join the and health reform, she joined the Harvard
Peace Corps established by John F. Kennedy. Institute for International Development and
She was posted to Sarawak where she taught spent the next eleven years there and at
in a Dayak school for two years, from 1967 Harvard’s Kennedy school.
to 1969. In the time she was there, she lived
in a Dayak longhouse much like the ones Carol directed the Edward S. Mason
depicted in Pendian Dirumah Panjai (Life Program in Public Policy, whose graduates
in a Longhouse) by Hedda Morrison.1 On include Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of
her return to the US, Carol abandoned Singapore, Sir Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen, Chief
Russian studies and took up nursing, Executive and President of the Executive
expecting one day to return to Sarawak to Council of the Government of Hong Kong,
help build healthy communities. Soon after, and M. R. Chatu Mongol Sonakul, former
however, she met her husband, a physics Governor of the Bank of Thailand. In 2000,
professor at Harvard University. They have Carol left Harvard to become Vice President
two grown sons. of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Ashoka
envisages a world where everyone realizes
A social entrepreneur and activist at heart, they have the right, the skills and the capacity
Carol worked to change obstetrical practise to improve society.2 Now retired and a senior
in Massachusetts toward family-centred advisor to Ashoka, Carol teaches ‘social
birthing, and then addressed what she saw entrepreneurship’ at Chiangmai University.
as the number one public health threat in
While living in Massachusetts, Carol
became familiar with the modern architecture
of Walter Gropius at Lexington and lived in
a community designed by the Architects
Collaborative, but equally importantly she is
a frequent visitor to Sri Lanka where she has
experienced the work of Geoffrey Bawa. Upon
deciding to build her house in Chiangmai,
Carol drew on her earlier experience of the
Dayak longhouse. She recalled the wisdom
of cross-ventilation, orientation to catch the
prevailing breeze, balconies and verandas, and
wide overhanging eaves to provide shade, and
resolved to draw upon what she terms the
‘ancient wisdom’. All of this would have been
recognizable to Bawa.

In 2006, the owner saw the site at Sansai,
located some 10 km north of Chiangmai.
It was part of the development of a former
orchard instigated by Suthini Jumsai. She
was subsequently introduced to Pattawadee
Roogrojdee and Apichat Sriarun of 639
Architects Co. Ltd., who have earned a
reputation as designers of modern houses
and resorts that draw upon the traditional
form of the Northern Thai House. Pattawadee
is a graduate of Chulalongkorn University
in Bangkok where, in 1995, she obtained a

Above left The house Below left The timber
is entered from the house is raised upon
southeast through a a strong concrete
symbolic gateway. podium.

15 1

14 13 23 4 89
16 10
7 11
1 Veranda 5 12
2 Dining area
3 Living area 6
4 Study
5 Kitchen N
6 Outside kitchen
7 Bathroom
8 Corridor/link
9 Master bedroom
10 Closet
11 Walk-in closet
12 Master bathroom
13 Deck
14 Bedroom 2
15 Closet
16 Bathroom 2

01 5 10 meters

Pages 168–9 The house Top The design is in
form was influenced by what is termed the
the owner’s experience
of living in a Dayak ‘Modern Lanna Style’.
longhouse. Above Second floor
plan.

172

16 14 13 23 4
18
18

01 5 10 meters

Top Looking east Above Section drawing. 2 Dining area
toward the pedestrian 3 Living area
entrance. 4 Study
13 Deck
14 Bedroom 2
16 Bathroom 2
18 Walkway

Above A broad timber Right The house is
veranda provides a raised on concrete piloti
space for relaxation in to avoid flooding and
a semi-outdoor space. snakes.

THE

174 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

Masters degree in Building Technology that concrete piloti to avoid flooding and snakes, has planted banana and fruit trees while fish
focussed on energy conservation. She is and has a linear plan form entered from the are available from the lake.
familiar with the work of the Malaysian southeast through a symbolic gateway and
architect Ken Yeang and studied Yeang’s thence, alongside a pavilion that houses a Materials include white cement that should
Menara Mesiniaga project when writing her guest bedroom, to an external ‘dog-leg’ not require painting, traditional roof tiles on
M.Arch. thesis. She currently teaches energy staircase that ascends to a broad linear a Thai-style roof pitched at 40 degrees that
conservation in building design and day- south-facing veranda. The timber deck gives helps create a stratification effect, recycled
lighting design at Ratchamangala University access to three more pavilions, the first timber floors internally and redwood decking
of Technology Lanna in Chiangmai. housing the living room, dining room and externally. The configuration of the house,
kitchen with a service stair; the second which is one room wide, enables comfortable
Apichat Sriarun is a graduate of Silpakorn accommodating a study, and the third the conditions to be achieved with natural
University, who over forty years in practise principal bedroom. All the principal rooms ventilation. It is a remarkable residence—
has developed an expertise in Northern Thai face a lake that cools the prevailing southwest the product of a close working relationship
architecture. He is best known as one of the wind. The house, detailed in ‘Modern Lanna between the owner and the architects.
designers of the renowned Four Seasons Style’ is, to quote the owner, ‘an antidote to
Resort in Chiangmai. He also teaches con- modernism’. The house is undoubtedly a 1 Hedda Morrison Pendian Dirumah Panjai (Life in
ceptual design and site planning at the same success in terms of its sustainability. It is a Longhouse), Borneo Literature Bureau, Kuching,
university as Pattawadee. largely naturally ventilated and the owner Sarawak, 1962.

Carol Grodzins’ House is raised on tall 2 Carol Grodzins, in correspondence with the author,
12 August 2011.

Directional Pic caption Directional Pic caption
body in here Sed mo body in here Sed mo
dolor ip exeratu eros dolor ip exeratu eros
trud dolobor sus cidunt trud dolobor sus cidunt
alisit lam, vel dit dolum alisit lamvel dit dolum
zzrit enim vo lous cidu zzrit enim vo lous.
nt a lisit lamvel ditus

175

Left The spacious Top left All the main Top right Throughout Above A central
dining area is naturally rooms have views the house there is axis connects all the
ventilated but can be toward the lake. is a strong sense of principal rooms.
air-conditioned. materiality.



L71 HOUSE

LADPRAO, BANGKOK
ARCHITECT: SURACHAI AKEKAPOBYOTIN AND
JUTHATHIP TECHACHUMREON
OFFICE OF AT (ARCHITECTURAL TRANSITION) CO. LTD.

THE

178 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

87

6 5
9

3 4
10

9

12 2
11

1 Carport 1 N
2 Living room 10 meters
3 Dining room 01 5
4 Pantry
5 Kitchen
6 Exercise area
7 Laundry
8 Bedroom
9 Terrace
10 Swimming pool
11 Maid’s room
12 Store

Above The house is a Pages 176–7 The
linear configuration of entrance court also
serves as an outdoor
interlocking spaces. entertainment space.
Right First floor plan.

L71 HOUSE 179

The L71 House is a clearly articulated The various functions of reception, living and The materials used throughout the house
composition in a modern architectural dining are consequently rationally planned in are a delightful combination of white marble,
language that responds logically to climatic a linear configuration of interlocking spaces, polished limestone and pale wood, with a
imperatives. The designers of the house, and external landscape is ‘inserted’ into the particularly striking central staircase in
which was completed in 2010, are Surachai spatial planning. Doors and windows open limestone highlighted by daylight that pene-
Akekapobyotin and Juthathip Techachum- in both long elevations and, consequently, trates from a skylight above the stairwell.
reon of The Office of Architectural there is excellent cross-ventilation. The house Skylights are used elsewhere in the house
Transition (Office AT Co. Ltd.) Both owners have occasional parties and thus the to emphasize specific features, including a
partners are graduates of King Mongkut public areas are located close to the parking family altar. The restraint of the design and
Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in at the entrance to the house, while private the manipulation of daylight are reminiscent
Bangkok. Upon graduating both worked for areas such as the dining room are located at of some contemporary Japanese architecture,
large architectural practises in the capital, the rear. The living room was extended across and the partners admit to the influence of
Surachai with Plan Associates and Juthathip the site to create a private space for the the innovative work of Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma
with A&A Architects, before undertaking swimming pool. and Kazuyo Sejima.
their Masters degrees at the University at
Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

On completion of their studies, they both
worked in New York for three years. While
there, they won a competition organized by
the Van Allen Institute for the design of a
public transition space from subway to sky
train. Returning to Thailand, they set up
practise and shortly after won another
competition, this time for the Bangkok
University Art Gallery. The gallery is com-
plete and has subsequently won an award
from the Association of Siam Architects
under Royal Patronage. They continued to
garner awards with another competition
winning entry for the National Discovery
Museum Institute exhibition and auditorium.
Their practice now employs six staff. The two
architects are part of a young architects group
in Bangkok that meets informally to discuss
issues relating to architecture.

The L71 House occupies a long, narrow
site perpendicular to the public road. The
site configuration and context drive the plan
form, resulting in a linear east/west axis. All
the principal rooms are to the north of the
axis, overlooking a swimming pool and
rectangular garden, while the subsidiary
spaces are to the south of the axis. There is
a clear allocation of ‘served’ and ‘servant’
spaces as defined by the modern master
Louis Kahn. The orientation and the canti-
levered upper floor also maximize shade in
the principal rooms.

The brief of the owners, Tosaporn and
Samorn Wongweratom, called for the
separation of ‘public’ and ‘private’ spaces.

Right All the principal
rooms face north
toward the pool and
garden.

THE

180 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

1 Carport
2 Living room
3 Dining room
5 Kitchen
7 Laundry
15 Buddha room
17 Family room

01 5 10 meters 17 15
3 57
12

Top A library and Above Section drawing. Above right The Right The dining room
computer ‘pod’ are kitchen and dining opens to the pool deck.
slightly elevated above room are at the heart
the second floor level. of the plan.



THE

182 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

9 Terrace
10 Swimming pool
17 Family room
18 Work area

18
17

9
10

Top left A child’s Above The cantilevered
bedroom. upper floor shades the
Top right Section first floor windows.
drawing.

Above Vertical ‘slots’ in
the built form induce
cross-ventilation.

ACHARAPAN HOUSE

NAKORN CHAISRI, NAKORN PRATHOM
ARCHITECT: BOONLERT HEMVIJITRAPHAN
BOON DESIGN



THE

186 MODERN
THAI

HOUSE

1 Entrance
2 Veranda
3 Living
4 Dining
5 Bedroom
6 Bathroom
7 Closet

The Acharapan House is located some 60 3 2
km west of Bangkok in the Baan Suan Kwan 4
Estate—a tranquil, bucolic landscape of
paddy fields. The house is also referred to southwest and northeast breezes, while trees she finds it, for the surrounding gardens,
as the Pa Ji (Aunty Ji) House after its owner, shade the external walls. designed by Monthon Jiropas, are serene
Acharapan Paiboonsuwan, a popular Thai and tranquil.
TV personality and veteran stage actress. It is an extraordinarily sensitive design
The secluded site, located alongside a large that responds well to climate and context. The architect, Boonlert Hemvijitraphan of
pond flanked on two sides by drainage The house has walls that can be opened up Boon Design, explains his design: ‘I appreci-
ditches, has been protected by the construc- entirely to the broad, shaded verandah, and ate buildings that are humble, so that when
tion of berms on three sides to prevent the ‘in-between’ space that is the essence of you enter you feel at peace. It is also impor-
flooding. The buildings are also elevated. all good houses in the tropics is thoroughly tant to experience nature—the wind and the
exploited. The owner craves silence when she rain.’ His philosophy is simple: ‘Do not fight
The residence consists of two pavilions arrives here, and surrounded by rice paddy with nature.’1
with simple hipped roofs. One incorporates
a dining/living space, a principal bedroom 7 The house replaces an older dwelling on
and an en suite bathroom and toilet. The the site that was connected by a timber
other serves as a guest pavilion. There is rich 5 walkway to a traditional Thai pavilion built
materiality in the teak-framed pavilions, both 6 on stilts which is used as a kitchen and
of which have high timber-lined ceilings and servants’ quarters. Pa Ji had consulted four
are roofed in traditional clay tiles without 5 10 meters other architects, but eventually settled on
gutters. The floors, too, are polished teak. Boonlert who advised that she demolish the
The house is orientated to benefit from the main house and start anew while retaining
the service building. The architect designed
12 4 the house to reflect the lifestyle of Pa Ji and
3 it is pared down to the essentials. She has
no desire to collect paintings or souvenirs.
01 ‘I want to live in a tidy and clean house. I
require only necessary furniture like a bed,
N bench and closet. I don’t like a messy house
full of unnecessary and unused things.’2

The result is a traditional form but there
are some elements of modernity—the
mosquito net is motorized and concealed,
and the HÄFELE television retracts into a
timber box. The elegant wooden house is
comparable to a large sala in a garden. The
walls are essentially open to the elements
though protected from sun and rain.

Top Section drawing. Pages 184–5 The house Opposite The guest
Above First floor plan is located alongside a pavilion is located to
large pond some 60 km the rear of the main
main pavilion. west of Bangkok. residence.



Left Wide eaves and a Above A broad teak
raised floor are a wise veranda runs along
response to climate. the flank of the main
pavilion.

ACHARAPAN HOUSE 189

1 Entrance
2 Veranda
3 Living area
5 Bedroom
6 Bathroom

6 32
5 1

01 5 10 meters

Above right Section Right The walls of the Directional Pic caption Directional Pic caption
drawing. house are essentially body in here Sed mo body in here Sed mo
open to the elements dolor ip exeratu eros dolor ip exeratu eros
and the house benefits trud dolobor sus cidunt trud dolobor sus cidunt
from excellent cross- alisit lamvel dit dolum alisit lamvel dit dolum
ventilation. zzrit enim vo lous. zzrit enim vo lous.

190 THE
MODERN

THAI
HOUSE

When the owner arrives at the house, she talked about the Therme Vals and what
is happy to live a simple life amidst natural impressed me most was his emphasis on
surroundings. ‘When I have to work I stay sensory aspects of architecture.’ Boonlert
in my house in Bangkok,’ she remarks. ‘But reflects that ‘two aspects of life that will be
whenever I am free from all burdens, I will expensive in the future are nature and
head to my second home, my favorite place, culture’.4
to relax my body and soul.3
In 2008, Baan Lae Suan magazine voted
Boonlert talks about other architects’ work Pa Ji’s house one of the ten most beautiful
that he admires. ‘I love Frank Gehry’s homes in Thailand.
architecture—the first of his buildings that I
experienced was Loyola Law School in 1 Pirak Anurakawachon, ‘Boon Studio’, art4d,
California (1978). It is very clever and reveals No. 179, Bangkok, March 2011, p. 35.
the complex program. I would never say no
to complexity but I like things to be simple.’ 2 ‘When a House is More Than a Home’, Estates
He continues: ‘I once attended a lecture by Report, Bangkok Post.
Peter Zumthor at the AA in London. He http://www.estatesreport.com/a34938

3 Ibid.
4 In conversation with the author, 3 April 2011.

Directional Pic caption Directional Pic caption Directional Pic caption
body in here Sed mo body in here Sed mo body in here Sed mo
dolor ip exeratu eros dolor ip exeratu eros dolor ip exeratu eros
trud dolobor sus cidunt trud dolobor sus cidunt trud dolobor sus cidunt
alisit lam, vel dit dolum alisit lamvel dit dolum alisit lam, vel dit dolum
zzrit enim vo lous cidu zzrit enim vo lous. zzrit enim vo lous cidu
nt a lisit lamvel ditus nt a lisit lamvel ditus

ACHARAPAN HOUSE 191

Above left A tactile Top The elegant yet
brick detail. minimal bathroom.
Left The high-ceilinged Above The simple
living and dining space bedroom is stripped

is utterly delightful. to the essentials.



KOMKRIT HOUSE

BANGKOK
ARCHITECT: BOONLERT HEMVIJITRAPHAN
BOON DESIGN

194

The Komkrit House is a precisely articulated accommodation for the parent and an
cubist composition that embodies Japanese entrance lobby with stairs leading to the
and Western influences. The ‘cool’ modern upper floor that contains the principal
residence is located in an expensive gated rooms. The dining space looks east toward
settlement off Pattanakarn Road, Bangkok. a swimming pool. From the courtyard, a
180-degree turn to the right leads to a broad
The owners of the house, lawyers Komkrit flight of external stairs that ascends to the
Kietduriyakul and Chaveewan Likhitwattana- pool deck and visitors’ accommodation in
chai are both graduates of USA universities— a poolside sala.
Harvard, Boston and Cornell—and are now
partners in the law firm of Baker and The house is intended to be a minimalist,
McKenzie that was founded in Chicago in neutral background to family life. The
1949. In their work, the couple have an predominant color is white, in the form
international orientation, but their house of smooth Turkish marble. The Japanese
is traditional in the sense that it is a three- influence is most evident in the design of
generation residence. In addition to the fenestration and internal sliding screens.
owners and their daughter, the house is Interior designer Barbara Barry carries
home to a sister, who lives in a self-contained through the meticulous detailing of the
apartment on the lower floor of the main architecture to the design of the furniture
house, and a retired parent, formerly an and a system of cabinets. The powder room
engineer with a Japanese automotive firm. is palatial, with an impressively high ceiling.

Surrounded by a high white wall, the house The architect of the stunning modern
occupies two plots in the gated Noble Estate house is Boonlert Hemvijitraphan, the
and is entered via a vehicular court in the principal of Boon Design. Explaining the
southeast corner of the site. The sliding very different architectural language of the
entrance gate is flanked by a white cherry Komkrit House when compared with others
blossom tree. A sharp left turn through a he has designed, such as the Aurapin House
narrow gap opens out to a tranquil turfed (page 16) and the Acharapan House (page
courtyard surrounded by white walls that 184), Hemvijitraphan emphasizes, ‘This is
hosts a tall tree and a reed bed. Directly not my house. It is my client’s and I design
ahead to the west is the ground floor each house for the owner, not for myself.’

Above and opposite Pages 192–3 The
At the heart of the house is a precise
house is a tranquil cubist composition
turfed courtyard. surrounded by a
Opposite below Section high white wall.
drawing.

28 28 24 25 27

19 17 20 21

54

7 77

12

4 Foyer 20 Terrace
5 Living room 21 Swimming pool
7 Maid’s room 24 Family room
12 Water tank 25 Master bedroom
17 Dining room 27 Walk-in closet
19 Powder room 28 Bedroom

THE
MODERN

THAI
HOUSE

Top A timber deck leads Right A dramatic flight
from the carport to the of steps leads from the
entrance door. turfed courtyard to the
Above The living and pool deck.
dining rooms open to
the pool deck.


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