unheard

I'd say it depends on the thickness of the Q-con brick.

Rather on the amount of money you want to spend building your house, all other things being equal.

Looks to be 7.5 cm

@freedomnow Yes, it's the standard and cheapest method of wall construction in Thailand. Any deviation from this default will add to the price. The pictured brick walls will be covered in thick render, on both sides. There's nothing awful about that - most Thai houses are built that way.

How do you use evaporative cooling in your house?

But it's not up to the architect to design an energy efficient house if the client has no interest in being efficient.

Inside the window curtains sandwiched between glass pains? Those are great if the budget allows for expensive double pane windows Solar panels do shade the roof but can also create additional weak spots for leaking.

Thin 2.5mm insulation? It would help but not nearly as much as the 25mm (thicker available) PU insulation. It works wonders - allows virtually no heat to be transferred on the inside. Is the attic area vented? A specific roof color can also reduce roof surface temperatures.

In general the west facing side(s) is the one needing most protection from late afternoon sun. Do you have a possibility of changing the house orientation to make it more aligned with E-W axis? There are many ways to minimize heat. Fewer windows on that site, insulated house walls, roof overhangs, shade trees, high fences, walk-in closets on the inside, awnings etc, etc. Plus insulative qualities of the roof and ceiling. There are also many other things to consider like local climate (night temperatures and strength/direction of prevalent winds).

A pair of op-enable (manual or motorized) skylights on the inverted V type of ceiling work the best. Energy efficient skylights are made with two panes of hardened (tempered) glass, with UV, heat reflective and light scattering coatings. They are super expensive - rarely seen in Thailand. I can only dream about getting one in my own house. I haven't seen that kind of skylights in private houses in Thailand yet but I don't have friends living in mansions.

A good advice for anyone in the market.

An interesting video but it references a different problem, related to long porcelain planks. What I was referencing to is the problem related to uneven grout lines due to the effects of gravity. Gravity pulls down freshly applied wall tiles. Spacers are used to greatly simplify installation and allow very consistent in width horizontal grout lines.

@FrederikKitten You might also want to visit websites of the local manufacturers - Duragres and Cotto. Their tile lines are readily available at every specialized store. Browse their product lines and check their catalogs. Some of the products in the prior year catalogs have been discontinued, but the website itself shows their current products. https://www.umipro.com/ https://www.cottolife.com/en/

@FrederikKitten Boonthavorn has design teams that will create a 3D design of your bathrooms for free if you buy the tile from the store. Measure your bathrooms and make a basic sketch of your bathroom floor. Take it with you to the store and ask the floor sales people for advice. You said that you're not sure what you want. As someone has already mentioned, try to keep it simple. No need for complex lines, patterns and stripes unless it's what you look for. And yes, non-slip tile is the must for the bathroom floors.

A very good observation. It seems very few of them use any kind of proper tiling spacers. Instead they use small pieces of plastic straps, with various results. But it doesn't mean it's impossible to find one using proper tools. Recently I've observed a tiling team working on a friend's high end house. They have used proper spacers.

Modern skylights (I had Velux in a desert climate) don't allow any significant radiant heat to be transmitted to the inside. They're certified and independently tested for U-factor and Solar Gain Coefficient. They even come with optional motorized shades that completely block off any light when required.

Depends on the type of the roof itself (insulated vs uninsulated). The insulated roof (often no cost premium on new construction) won't transmit much, if any of heat to the ceiling in the vaulted type.

Good point regarding ceilings. I rarely see the ceiling height being mentioned as a desirable feature in the "cool house" discussions. My take is the higher, the better. Warm air raises to the top and stays there while the cooler air stays at the floor level. Vaulted ceilings are ideal, or near ideal. The ideal ceiling would be a vaulted ceiling with a couple of op-enable skylights, allowing the warmest air to escape.

Then I take back my "concern" with overhangs. ????

Have your houses been permitted? Just being curious..

@FrederikKitten The easiest way would be to install a smart, remote controlled ceiling light, fully adjustable for brightness and color. That way you can adjust the lite the way you want it, and then change the settings when you need it. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/toshiba-led-smart-ceiling-lamp-25-toshiba-lighting-i2575326274-s9169991996.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Atoshiba%2Bled%2Bsmart%2Bceiling%3Bnid%3A2575326274%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn%3Ad1e6e286a22048f62a40c5a5c47c8e73%3Bregion%3Ath%3Bsku%3A2575326274_TH%3Bprice%3A1190.00%3Bclient%3Adesktop%3Bsupplier_id%3A100192419093%3Basc_category_id%3A11934%3Bitem_id%3A2575326274%3Bsku_id%3A9169991996%3Bshop_id%3A2292463&search=1&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.7bd45623lzWLMY

double post

Huge, structurally non reinforced overhangs are all great until you get hit with a series of powerful, high winds thunderstorms - you've created multiple weak spots all around your roof, starting with the most vulnerable veranda section. Your west, most exposed to the afternoon sun side of the house is totally unprotected, with no overhang at all. A strange choice.

Hmm, other options? I'm not aware of any other cheap option for uninterrupted power.

Nicely sized lap pool for a regular swimmer!