The Bearable Lightness of Living
In the South-Eastern region of Thailand, Research Studio Panin worked on a house that anticipates the future needs of its owner.
The brief was clear: create a house that retains the sense of privacy and tranquillity for the owner, a doctor, and his mother including spaces for a future extended family.
In Roi-Et, Research Studio Panin, also had to integrate the weather conditions (extreme dry weather and heat) into the overall brief.
So the architect conceived a group of interrelated dwelling spaces. To sustain both individual and familial needs, as well as embrace the tropical climate, the house is organised as four living quarters joined together by open veranda and layers of protective enclosures. These quarters though joined by their linear organisation, are also separated to let light and air in. Enveloped by “breathable” brick wall at the front and see-through steel mesh façade at the back, the views from within are always framed to give the inhabitants different sets of relationship with the landscape.
Layers of façade act as protective walls make the house at once enclosed and free. With these breathable envelopes, domestic activities are always framed by the presence of the surrounding landscape, which becomes a background for lives within the house.
The house has four interconnected living quarters. All private spaces are joined by familial and communal areas. Yet some of the rooms are not defined by walls, but instead the perimeter of those rooms are left blur, allowing usages to emerge. This also occurs between the interior and exterior spaces of the house. Apertures are stratified in such a way that the owners’ relationship to the surrounding landscape can be adjusted or chosen, which creates a free play of light and darkness, the fresh air, the breeze as well as the views.
The BT house is designed with a unique sense of lightness, along with the sensitive stratifications of its enveloping enclosures that made the house welcoming while remain a private sanctuary. This is achieved by employing steel supporting structures that work together with both contrasting material such as brick blocks and harmonious elements such as steel mesh doors and windows. Brick blocks and their steel structure at the front lend the house its sharp simplicity that resonates with steel mesh enclosure at the back, thus turning the otherwise weighty materials into something light and airy.
Anticipating changes, the house has to be flexible enough to provide a framework for future transformation. It is a house conceived from a close connection between inner demands and outer context, creating a unified whole that belongs to both the owner and the place it is situated.
