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Architects: Onion
- Area: 2355 m²
- Year: 2020
- Photographs: Wworkspace
Text description provided by the architects. Roukh Kiri Khao Yai is a hotel and the owners’ vacation home. Located next to Khao Yai National Park, the site has a beautiful scenery of the over-layered mountains. The weather is good and sometimes cold, which is very special for Thailand. The owners wish to escape from the urban pollution and to relax in a healthy environment of Khao Yai within organic fruit and vegetable farms that will be served to the hotel guests.
Bringing nature into the site is our priority when we plan the layout of Roukh Kiri. The project has two zones. The first zone is the public areas which is composed by the arrangement of 3 houses: lobby, restaurant and living area. These 3 houses are connected by an outdoor seating area that has a fireplace at the main axis. We enclose the entry space with the solid walls because when the guests turn left towards the west they would see the magnificent view of the mountains behind the swimming pool. The semi-indoor living area, next to the swimming pool, is designed as a sala, the skeleton frames made of precast iron structure and teng wood with the wooden shingle roof tiles, accepting both the wind and the view to the first welcoming space of the project. The architectural style in this sense is different from other solid houses because it is located in the direction of the south western wind.
The second zone is private. It is composed of 11 guest villas and the owner family house. The entry to the second zone is behind the fireplace. The transition space between public and private areas is hidden. Every villas are placed in an organic layout. They appear to be random. The hidden framework is the existing mango trees that guides a direction of each spaces. All of them are facing the mountainous views. They are designed for both natural ventilation and air-condition. Seven guest villas have an outdoor private swimming pool. A bathtub space brings the sky into the interior through a roof void. The slopes of the roof, which are 31 and 48 degree, are appropriate for the rainfall in Thailand.
‘Farmhouse’ is our general reference. We like the simplicity of its architectural elements and the scale of intimacy. We design separated areas for different activities focusing upon necessary functions. The owners accept our thought. It goes with their ‘organic farm’. Avocado trees and lemon trees are newly planted in the site so that they do not need to import the vegetables from abroad. Those round shapes of lemon and the silhouette of our farmhouse go together. We initially drew the farmhouse by hand, reducing every elements to pure geometries, just like a child’s drawing, that had triangle houses, round trees, small doors, fences and routes towards the houses.
All everyday life objects are displayed in our guest villas. We are exhibiting the necessary functions. Umbrellas, hats, lamps, even the bathtubs are the objects to be put on show. The same is true with the location of shower area in the middle of the room. Every objects of utility are our decors so that our design is not decorative. Our intention is to make the composition appears random, even though our random objects are precisely located. An example is the mirror above the sink. In the morning, when our guests open the curtain, they will see the reflection of themselves with the garden view. We display everything that exists in the design including the texture of materials, such as stone, roof tiles and wall textures, in both interior and exterior spaces.
