Banyan House
The site for this project is situated just off the main artery of Bangkok -Sukhumvit- A five minute walk away from the hustle of this demanding metropolitan is a serene street dominated by a century old Banyan tree which occupies a large portion of the frontage of the site.
Left to flourish for generations, the tree has become intrinsic to neighborhood’s natural environment – holding memories of people in the vicinity, including our client. Thus, it has been obvious from the beginning that the challenge of the project was to find a way for this historic tree and the new structure to harmoniously coexist.
With this context in mind, our approach to the design was that of respect. Rather than engaging with the tree by building around it, we chose to locate the house to the side leaving a full length of clearance behind the tree. This extended space would serve as an undisturbed backdrop that would enhance the tree’s dominance and, in a more practical sense, become a spacious garden for the inhabitants.
The architecture of the house has been kept simple and straightforward. The structural columns were set right on the edge to distinctly define building boundary, while the living volume have been set back to gain eaves space and create a continuous terrace that is protected from the sun.
The upper floor is kept discreet from the surroundings by the more frequent structural columns, in addition to those perfect natural screens given by spreading branches of the Banyan tree.
The ground floor is open with minimal application of structural columns to open views to the garden where the tree-patterned ventilated wall is used to provide privacy to the garden from the street and the parking zone, at the same time allowing visual extension and enhancing the lighting quality that seep through leaves and branches of the Banyan tree.
The presence of the past continues to give and live on. Humbly dwelling with it, the future of the house begins.
