Perforated Aluminum-Clad House Design Built Within An Individual Natural Ecosystem

In the beginning, the Shade House that has designed by Bangkok-based architectural firm, Ayutt and Associates design, owned by a nature-loving couple,was planned to be a two-story private residence. This would cause its functions to spread out almost all over the entire site. However, with a plan to create the least footprint as possible, the house is thus converted to be a three-story with the parking lots placed separately in the front. This new strategy helps to raise the green-area square meters to be 60% greater, which is twice the minimum requirement of green-area regulations in Bangkok. Together with adding pocket gardens at every corner of the house and a green roof, the overall green space of this house is boosted to 90%. By the time the vegetation has fully grown and covers all the house’s elevations, the green area will be as much as 150% larger than its initial site. Consequently, it will meet an original intention of both the house’s owners and the architects—to maximize the senses of natural scene perception on site—by establishing a life-long communication between the dwellers and the surrounding nature, resulting the growing shade of the house.

The architects’ initial plan was to lift and place a swimming pool on the second floor, along with the family living space, to leave the most open area on the ground floor for landscaping and maintaining the house owners’ privacy. This creates a new sensory experience of nestling the seamless infinity pool among the clouds of tree leaves, creating a visual connection to the sky beyond. One can touch and enjoy being among the greenery and a blue sky while dipping in the pool. AAd design team furthermore proposed a different type of room arrangement that each floor will be functioned completely within itself. Each living unit is equipped with all the functions needed for a suite such as a bathroom, kitchen and pantry, garden, and terrace.

Visitors can choose to access this guest suite by passing through the main foyer or entering the unit immediately through a side door, located adjacent to the waterfall. The rest of the living spaces which need more privacy and security,reserved only to the house’s owners,are placed on the higher floors. The “pool villa” suite on the second floor is designed to be embedded among the trees. Its floor-to-ceiling windows are focusing on one approach—ona sculptural Plumeria and the swimming pool. The third-floor unit that rises above the tree canopy has a view towards a pristine landscape nearby the Suvarnabhumi airport.

One of the most eye-catching element of this house is the white slender steel rods joined together as a sculpturing rigid frame. It forms geometric volumes that creates an immediate connection from the entry stair steps to the house’s main foyer. This sculptural detail not only encloses an outdoor terrace but is also framing a focal point and making the pathway more intuitive, adventure-evoking. A series of voids and opening, created by the white continuous frame, draws visitors forward. When reaching closer to the main door, a lotus pond appears to join the eyes, revealing another set of rigid frames standing among the pond. As guests move throughout the property, they are greeted with unexpected views of landscape, starting to unfold during the journey through the house. Besides from using this rigid frame to secure the house from robbery, it is aimed to block the eye sights of the outsiders. Because of the overlapping design technique, the white steel rods create an illusion that makes the frame look denser than it actually is. The designer tends to use these rigid frames to hover different types of wall materials. Some envelop the solid walls, some embrace the opaque part, and some encompass the transparent glazing windows; these all create different dynamic views along the house.

Because one of the house’s owners is a psychologist who is in need of a space to meditate, the designer decides to place the Buddha pavilion among the garden, in the middle of the land plot. This is to maximize the advantages of having surrounded by nature.


Project name: Shade House
Architects: Ayutt and Associates design - https://www.aad-design.com/
Location: Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan Province, Thailand
Area: 950 m²
Year: 2020
Photography: Chalermwat Wongchompoo - https://sofography.com/
Interior Designer: Ayutt and Associates design AAd
Landscape Designer: Ayutt and Associates design AAd
Lighting Designer: Ayutt and Associates design AAd
Architect In Charge: Suvatthana Sattabannasuk, Napatgarn Limwanuspong, Ayutt and Associates design AAd
Design Team: Ayutt and Associates design AAd

Almost in F - Tranquillity by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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