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Khet Sai Mai, Thailand – Octane architect & design
Built Area: 1300.0 m2
Year Built: 2019
Photographs: Rungkit Charoenwat
The design for Y/A/O Residence was born from the homeowners’ loose brief to the architects. After all, a lot of freedom came with these words: “design a house as if it were your own.” This creative autonomy prompted the architects to finally put a dream into fruition.
Over the years, the architects have wanted to adapt an architectural language that involves oblique angles. They saw this as the perfect opportunity to implement such design. The result is a house where the walls, floors, interior and exterior surfaces all meet in non-orthogonal angles.
The buildings were constructed around an open courtyard. Because of this, the outdoor roof and ceiling slopes toward this area. This allows the rain to fall directly into the courtyard, forming a thin water curtain.
Inside, the house is nothing short of grand. The dominant colors are that of the earth, giving off a warm, relaxing ambiance. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows provide unrestricted views of the outdoors.
With its unique design, Y/A/O House reflects the innovative combination of modern architecture and traditional Thai forms.
Notes from the Architect:
We received only a simple brief from the owners who gave us “a boundless freedom to design a unique house as if it were our own.” Liberated from external constraints, we were free to study and develop a style of architecture that we were personally interested in. Over the last 5-10 years, we have seen that a certain architectural language, in which the external wall and the ceiling converge into an oblique angle, is becoming popular, especially in commercial buildings of real estate projects.
However, apart from being on the exterior, this architectural language never appears in the interior of those buildings which are still mostly dominated by an ordinary perpendicular and parallel layout. That being the case, we are curious to see if it is possible to apply this language to other design aspects rather than just for a decorative purpose.
From our perspective, to make an architecture express the language as clearly as possible, we have to start from the plan design and the structure. Once the language has been successfully integrated into these two areas, the other elements such as the floor, the wall, the roof, the exterior, and the interior will naturally conform in unison to the style.
To achieve the ideal version of our architectural language, we need a courtyard, where sunlight is allowed to pass through and rain to fall through, as the center of the building. The diagonal wall line serves to connect the frame of the building and the frame of the courtyard, as well as the roof.
With the frame of the building being higher than the frame of the courtyard, the rain will fall from the roof into the courtyard like a curtain of a waterfall. We complete the roof with valley rafters that naturally suit the structure. The ceiling is also parallel to the roof. We have applied this architectural language to appropriately serve different functions in the 3 main parts of the building.
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Exterior Views:
Interior Views:
Drawing Views:
Interested in seeing more Thai architecture? Prime Nature Residence is another must-see house.
