When we first visited the site, we were so much impressed by the existing trees. The owner had ramdomly planted them without any ideas of what the site could potentially be for him back then.  There were different kinds of tree, with different shapes and forms.  But the most stunning thing about them was that they have grown very tall spreading many branches covering the sky, and presenting glitter of natural light. It was such a special kind of atmosphere.  So, we are determined to design this house by keeping such an impressive atmosphere as much as we can. The house should perform as a guardian for the trees, and then the trees can give life back to the family.
 

One of the current issues for an urban family in Thailand is how to create living qualities among different generations.  To portray such a situation, the father and mother, by tradition, have to take care of their aging parents who are in needs of day-care routine, whereas the children are growing teenage; which the father and mother would naturally prefer to keep them close, but not too close to provide them more privacy.  So, this house has to deal directly with the issue.  The owners (father and mother) have eventually decided not to build the house elsewhere, but here next to the grandparents’ house.  

Located in an almost-hectic community, the house has to create privacy within the site, that is, not directly exposes itself too much to the neighbors.  Also, this private area can be a good connecting space between the new house and the grandparents’ house; which would help sustaining the good bonding for the expanding family.
 

“Creating the court means to establish privacy”

Due to the existing conditions from the community plan, the site plan starts at the upper far right corner of the property.  An L-shaped layout is carefully chosen to deal with the house’s programs; which basically splits the private wing from the public one whereas the staircase is located at the center of the L.  One wing points to the parents’ house to relate all supporting facilities for the two houses, and the other wing leads to the street front in order to easily observe the visitors.  Moreover, along the street line, there comes the parking structure on the entry level, which is flexible enough to turn into a multi-purpose terrace.  And on the upper levels, it applies ventilation-block walls to make another L-shaped façade to screen visual penetrations from neighbors across the street.  Therefore, the facade together with the L-shaped building, a big open space at the middle is perfectly confined to be a nice garden court offering a great amount of natural light and ventilation for all the rooms.  

“Placing public spots across the house”
The planning design strategy, supposedly suitable for the family with teenage children, is to providing more (open) private areas across the house.  This means to allow each kid to find personal spot to do his own thing, but still under the parental care somehow, so that the house can keep attracting them back to the family.  To do so, each floor offers a small public area apart from the main function: Floor1 the main gathering space like the sofa set with the main dining table on the one wing, there is a small office with a pocket garden on the other.  Floor2, the parents’ quarter on the one wing, there is a study room on the other.  Floor3 the children’s quarter on the one wing, the pray room and a pocket terrace garden is on the other. And on the roof top, there is a pantry to facilitate a party table where the family can enjoy the 360-degree town view.

 

“The kitchen is the heart”

The most important room for this house is the kitchen.  Along the project, the father has paid so much attention to his kitchen.  It must be proper to cook nearly like a professional.  It has to be like another dining place apart from the main dining table.  It will be his room to express his own personalities.  In other words, the kitchen is the heart of the family.  Even though it may sound that the room is for his personal joy, but in fact he believes that this kitchen is going to make a lot of good moments for that family.  The children and find this room to relax from any stressful study, but yet they can be focused on cooking and contemplate their own creativity.  It is like a small-winning moment of the day.