The Best Examples Of Contemporary Houses

[peterchiangmai]

In and around Chiang Mai I am looking for the best examples of contemporary house architecture combining modern building technology with features of traditional Thai house design. Can anyone suggest any particular houses that I might go and look at from the street to learn more about what is happening in this field? My objective is to build a house, have the land already but I want to learn a lot more before going any further. Also, can anyone recommend an English speaking architect? Thank you.

[ProThaiExpat]

The best "drivebys" that I could suggest are the three or four sois that dead end into the Central Department Store/Lotus Hotel complex. Just continue west on the superhighway onto Nimanhemin street and the sois are on your left. Saw some very contemporary homes in that area.

I had my own house built in the tradidional western open floor plan "great room" concept in a development who supplied the architect. His fee was 5k Baht and consisted ob about six pages of plans. I required a few additional "exp0sure" pages but there were quite a few changes.

You post suggest you want to use western construction techniques which would be very expensive here in Chiang Mai and difficult to get executed.

Since the traditional construction method here is brick, plaster and steel reinforced concrete posts and is quite inexpensive, you can design almost anything and it will be built.

If your looking for cantilevers, skylights and some of the exotics of western construction, headaches await you. I had enough getting them to follow the plans, undertanding that all floors were to be flat throughout (thais lower floors in kitchens and baths) plumbers that know how to install what is available at HomePro, etc. Cabinets by Tekka and installed by their Bangkok crew worked well. Sliding mirror doors by RB Furniture at Homepro but expensive, 20K each for a 3 meter slider, but high quality and designed by an architect who works there and can't get a job elsewhere. He speaks English. Perhaps you can learn of a good firm in CM from him.

I reufsed to let them put a post in the middle of my "great room" so they built a beam out of steel reinforced concrete that was 4 feet deep and was structurally designed. It did cause my ceiling to be only 2.95 meters high, but it worked out as the great room is exactly that, "great". Cost was the developers excuse for not using a simple steel beam. By picking all your own finishes, cabinetry and fixtures, you can get a very contemporary finish with any architecture you choose. HomePro is the only answer for contemporary fixtures and finishes, although you can get paint, tile and some fixtures at hardware stores around town.

PM me if you wan't any other details or have further questions.

Good luck.

[thenewguy]

Peter,

I read your post and ProThaiExpats and would like toss out my observations. There are many "contemporary" houses here in Chiang Mai, many good, many bad. Most are just copies of Western style houses with a bit of "Lanna" added to them. They are not climate responsive, they are not in any way responding to the culture (other than superficially), they are not very good. You can see these houses in most moobaan's around here. Just go to the malls and look at the models. The good ones are difficult to find. They are behind walls, off the beaten path, and not in development compounds.

None of these houses is built with western construction techniques. It is too expensive. Most are not built to western standards of construction because nobody knows how to hold a contractor accountable. A house that can be built from six pages of drawings leaves too much up to the contractor. ProThaiExpat is correct; building by the local methods is your best bet. There is a reason that houses are built this way. The materials are inexpensive, strong, insect and moisture appropriate, and there are builders who know how to use them. The key is to get a builder that cares about quality. Secondly, the design, the finishes, and the details are what bring houses to what one might call a western standard. The Thai sense of space is very different from the western sense of space. We are culturally different, no way around that.

All that said, I would like to respond to your request for an English speaking architect. I am a licensed architect from the US. I have a Thai partner who is also an architect. We have begun working together and have several projects "on the boards".

We do not currently have any work under construction, and all previous work by my partner would not be of much interest (buildings for Thai clients who were interested in typical Thai buildings). Our current work is very much in the vein of contemporary, modern buildings which are responsive to their environment both physical and cultural. We work with a western sense of space and functon and quality and a Thai sense of scale, subtlty, and detailing/ornamentation. I would be happy to show you some of our drawings (projects we are currently working on) and discuss our ideas. You can PM me, post a reply here, or call me at 01 033 9784. If you don't think we are the right designers for you, we can at least have a lengthy discussion concerning design, materials, and expectations that might help you as you move forward.

thomas