布恩之家丨泰国曼谷丨Anonym

Architects:Anonym

Area:350m²

Year:2025

Photographs:DOF SKYGROUND,Soopakorn Srisakul

Lead Architects:Phongphat Ueasangkhomset

Category:Houses

Design Team:Parnduangjai Roojnawate

Architecture Offices:Pornpansa Kheedkhin

City:Bangkok

Country:Thailand

Text description provided by the architects. This 376-square-meter plot was once simply a green lawn, not a space actively used so much as one appreciated from a distance, offering a restful patch of green for the eye. That changed when the son got married and started a family of his own. The land soon revealed itself as an ideal site for a new house, one that would allow the family to remain close while granting the younger household a greater sense of privacy. At the same time, the lawn was transformed into a courtyard to be shared between the new house and the original home.

The design, the architect explains, began with the context of the existing house. "The owner's parents had a long-standing attachment to this land, just as the owner himself had grown up here. The plot was also just the right size for the spatial needs of a newly established household. We therefore set out to design the new house around an open central courtyard, using it as a connecting court that allows the two houses to remain visually and spatially continuous. It also happened to align beautifully with the direction of light. Since the front of the house facing the road is oriented to the east, carving a courtyard into the middle of the new volume effectively creates another frontage facing north. This helps draw natural light into the house and opens up the views remarkably well."

The building is positioned as a long linear volume, following the rectangular shape of the site while responding carefully to the sun's path. This reduces the walls' exposure to direct sunlight, while the north-facing side can open up with glazed walls, allowing every part of the house to look onto the courtyard garden and the airy central space within.

In the architect's view, the courtyard was never conceived as a decorative gesture alone. "When we design a house, we do not see landscape as something that merely frames the building. Instead, we let architecture and landscape meet and flow into the house itself. That creates a much richer way of living, bringing in better ventilation and better views, while also gently drawing people outdoors to use the open spaces around them. It creates an inside-out relationship, which is far more meaningful than having a front garden that remains purely decorative and never truly inhabited. By carving the building to form this courtyard, we kept the scale intimate enough that it never feels like a loss of interior usable space. On the contrary, it makes the house feel more expansive and naturally lends it a sense of calm. Once the courtyard had been introduced, we recessed the roof accordingly, making room for the tree at the center of the court to grow, while preserving the continuity of the roof plane. The result is a new roof form that has become one of the house's most distinctive features."

Natural Light as a Source of Well-Being – Within roughly 400 square meters of living space, the house is organized around an open, interconnected communal area, where the sofa, dining table, and kitchen are all held within a single continuous space. Each corner is given its own glazed opening, bringing in daylight while framing a distinct view. Even the kitchen is fitted with awning windows that can be opened for ventilation. The service area and Thai kitchen, meanwhile, are separated at the rear of the house. From the outside, this portion appears as a curved wall built of white-painted brick, laid with gaps that allow light and air to pass through.

For the couple, the open shared area is where much of daily life unfolds. "We spend most of the day in this space. On some nights, when we come home late, we simply sink into this corner straightaway. My wife is especially fond of the kitchen corner, because when she cooks, our child can sit and play nearby and be part of it. Sometimes we even film little videos there together, just for fun. What we particularly like is that natural light reaches the kitchen, so it never feels closed in."

The wife points to another room that has gradually taken on a different role within the family's daily life. "Upstairs, my husband has a private board game room, originally intended as a space for friends to come over and play together. But after we had our first child, it has, for now, become more of a Lego room instead. Even though it is an enclosed room, we really appreciate the way the architect designed one side as a full-height glass wall, bringing in light from the balcony, which itself has another opening beyond, so that when you look up, you can see the sky beautifully. It's much the same with the wall in the main bedroom that welcomes the morning light, or the corner that looks out onto the garden. Altogether, it makes every part of the house feel fresh and full of life."

Beyond the windows in each room, daylight is also drawn in through glazed walls along the second-floor corridor, filtering down through the open void of the house to the floor below. Together with the main light brought in through the open walls surrounding the central courtyard, these elements make everyday life within the house feel effortlessly connected to nature.

A Courtyard at the Heart of Home – The courtyard at the heart of the house is more than a pocket of greenery. With the addition of a semi-outdoor terrace paved in composite decking and sheltered beneath a deep, extended eave, it becomes an extension of the living space while also serving as a circulation route. Framed by trees and the surrounding context, it has naturally become a spot the homeowners use often, almost throughout the day.

Reflecting on how the courtyard has changed daily life, the homeowner describes the ways it brings the family together. "We planted additional trees so their form would sit comfortably within the courtyard, with canopies rising high enough to greet the upstairs bedroom windows. From within the house, there is always greenery in view, while my mother can still enjoy the trees from the balcony of the original house. Ray, our son, has a place to wander every day, moving in and out through so many different corners, and every morning he loves walking over to see his grandparents. We truly feel that this house has made life happier. After a tiring day at work, it becomes a place of emotional refuge. Our son's smiles and laughter, along with the light, flowers, and trees, help restore our energy every day."

A modern white house with a pared-back gabled roof and no front eaves, the new residence faces east, welcoming the morning light through glazed openings that bring a fresh brightness into the bedroom. Built on land that once formed the lawn of the original house to the right, it was conceived with an open side and a courtyard that allows the two houses to remain visually connected and comfortably shared in daily use.

At the center of the home is a planted courtyard, accompanied by a semi-outdoor deck and seating area that creates an easy closeness to nature. In the main bedroom, set beneath a gabled ceiling, the space takes on something of the character of an attic room. Any sense of enclosure is softened by a long glass wall running the full length of the room, complementing the glazed openings at the front of the house that face east. Beside the bed, a raised platform extends the function of the room as an informal sitting area, made more inviting with loose cushions that can be moved and arranged as needed.

Summing up the design approach, the architect returns to the idea of continuity between light, house, and landscape. "We designed the shared living area as an open space that feels expansive and comfortably airy. By carving into both the house and the roof, we created a small, planted courtyard that helps draw natural light into the interior. From within the house, there is always an awareness of light, extending into the semi-outdoor sitting area at the terrace and courtyard, while still maintaining an easy connection to the grandparents' original home."

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