Villa in Bangkok by JTA – aasarchitecture

The project is for a single family of 5 with 3 young children and 2 caretakers. This house is located on an elongated plot of land oriented north-south. The circulation through the house creates a sequence of gradually more private internal and external spaces. The parking is located immediately in front of the plot in order to keep the noise and exhausted gas away from the main house.
The covered walkway connects the parking and the main house.

The owner can enjoy the view of the garden while getting in or out of the house. As one proceeds through the entrance foyer, there is a reception and formal dining area which has view of and access to the swimming pool. The rear of the house has a more privacy and expands into a double height family area that is overlooked by the bridge to master bedroom. From the family area, the owner can gain access to the covered terrace, swimming pool and fish pond.

The house is well insulated, filled with natural light, crossed ventilation, fitted with solar collector panel water heater and heat recovery heater while rain water harvesting and gray water is used to watering the garden. The design of the project is influenced by it’s surrounding context and the need for privacy, view and good ventilation. The house is placed on the east part of the plot in an alternate position from the neighboring house in order to take the wind from the south without any obstruction and to create privacy for both.

The design also emphasizes on the flow of space from indoors to outdoor, structural expression and connection to the land. L – shaped plan looks inward through the “thin” porous inner wall to the garden and swimming pool. The “thick” protective outer wall facing the adjacent property is kept solid with only necessary windows.The tropical architecture was also brought into consideration.

All rooms have cross ventilation, the bedrooms on the second floor feature a high ceiling that slopes upward with windows that allow the hot air to ventilate easily whilst indirect light enters the rooms. The design provides all the rooms with natural light, cross ventilation and view and at the same time generates a more intimate space and protection against the outside environment. The swimming pool and ¬fish pond make the house come alive by virtue of its motion, its reflectiveness, its colour, its sound and its cooling effect.

All of these enhance the spatial atmosphere of the house. The location of the project is in a housing estate near Bangkok’s CBD which is on the east side of Bangkok. The plot is a 1,208 m elongated vacant plot with newly built house nearby. This house is located on an elongated plot of land oriented north-south, surrounded by three other plot.

The plot to the front part of the north is currently vacant of which a house may be built very soon. The plot adjacent to the north-east is a vacant orchard and not in the premises of the neighborhood. The plot to the south has a house located on the west side and its garden to the east. The house is oriented north-south to provide natural day lighting and encourage breezes from the prevailing winds, wall and overhang were arrange to shield the interior from the sun and prevent overheating.

The design promotes both cross ventilation and daylighting, hence reducing the need for artificial light. Apart from orientation and cross ventilation in every room, double wall with insulation installed in the middle were employed in order to reduce the heat gain through the wall. For the roof, solar slab and ceramic coating are used to reduce the heat gain through the roof. Furthermore, the pure high resistance aluminium foil is installed under the roof to block the heat. As a result, reduce the energy consumption used for air conditioners.

The swimming pool and fish pond also help cool down the temperature. To ensure that this house consumes the smallest amount of energy possible, heat – resistant glass is used for some windows to help insulate the rooms. Furthermore outside roller curtain provide shade when needed. Solar cell water heater and heat recovery heater are used to make hot water for the house. Water conservation has been taken into account as well, with a series of low flow fixtures. Furthermore, this house use gray water to watering garden.

Some of the furnitures are the used furniture from grandmother and some are bought from the used furniture store. All air conditioners’s condensing units are located in the shade for better heat transfer ventilation. Furthermore, the refrigerant is the non-hcfc type which is environmental friendly and has better heat transfer property. Thus less weight of the refrigerant needed and less work load for the compressor. Conventional post and lintel reinforced concrete structural system is chosen. This method of construction is widely used, economical, easy and effective. Source by JTA.