A Bit Of Imagination

[RAZZELL]

Just found this link:

http://www.freshpala...nd-by-office-at

The style may not everyone's cup of tea but what struck was the budget - only 13m baht!

RAZZ

Edited June 20, 2012 by RAZZELL

[GAS]

Very nice, love the style!

[Darrel]

Absolutely hideous. I wouldn't accept it as a gift.

That said, the price doesn't surprise me. It doesn't look like an expensive construction at all being apparently mostly glass, wood cladding, large plain tiles and laminate floors, none of which are very expensive.

[PattayaPhom]

Absolutely hideous. I wouldn't accept it as a gift.

That said, the price doesn't surprise me. It doesn't look like an expensive construction at all being apparently mostly glass, wood cladding, large plain tiles and laminate floors, none of which are very expensive.

Im with you on this.....glass per sqm is far cheaper than bricks and mortar. Trouble with these places apart from living in a fish bowl.....you need blinds closed in the day to keep out the sun and at night so its not like being on big brother..the style suits some thogh.

[RAZZELL]

As I said maybe not to everyone's taste

When compared to a "cookie-cutter" house from Sansiri or Land & House...different class.

RAZZ

[Darrel]

Trouble with these places apart from living in a fish bowl.....you need blinds closed in the day to keep out the sun and at night so its not like being on big brother..the style suits some thogh.

Indeed. I went to the show unit of one of those glass towers in Wong Amat one afternoon. The unit was on a corner and had floor to ceiling glass on two sides. Even with the biggest air-conditioner I have ever seen blowing out ice-cold air, it was still like being in an oven, and you couldn't sit or stand anywhere without being in the direct sun. And because of the design if you wanted blinds they would have to be electrically operated also.

[RAZZELL]

Can't you get tinted glass or glass that "tints" after an electrical current is run through it?

RAZZ

[Darrel]

Can't you get tinted glass or glass that "tints" after an electrical current is run through it?

Yes, but neither would be standard, I think. Also not quite the desired effect. I want to see my view, and that electric tint glass seems to obscure it completely.

[PattayaParent]

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

[craigt3365]

Stunning! I saw this in a magazine recently. Lots of nice design features as well as energy savings ideas. Like having overhangs for shade and placing a lot of the open glass areas on the North side, so no (or little) direct sunlight. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

[meand]

It is interesting to see how differently people react. I absolutely love it. I would have to take other considerations into account with the heat here etc, as others have mentioned, but I find it aesthetically very pleasing.

[Crossy]

Indeed it is meand, personally it's not to my taste but I wouldn't call it hideous.

There is really too much glass for my liking, it will all need blinds or curtains so you're not living in a fish tank.

[Darrel]

Stunning!

Yes, it had a similar effect on me.

I hope to be fully recovered soon.

[GreenSnapper]

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

Crappy condos in BKK cost more. Near BTS, new building, 15 million for a little more than 100 m2.

If I could buy a house here - without women involved or a company trick - I'd seriously consider to fork out the cash to buy it. Very amazing, so un-Thai.

Edited June 23, 2012 by GreenSnapper

[RAZZELL]

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

I know what you mean!

But is it so much money nowadays? When you compare it to the price of many of the new condos, many of which are sold "off-plan" to Thais...???

Plus it's a massive place...maybe they could design a smaller one for those with more realistic budgets

I just wonder what the time-scale from design, to build, to finish would be?

Got to take 6 months+ to build somewhere like that? Maybe even 1 year in Thailand?

RAZZ

Edited June 24, 2012 by RAZZELL

[Darrel]

Presumably the "only 13MB" doesn't include the land?

[RAZZELL]

I would imagine so.

Still a good deal when you see the price of some houses.

RAZZ

[silsburyhill]

Trouble with these places apart from living in a fish bowl.....you need blinds closed in the day to keep out the sun and at night so its not like being on big brother..the style suits some thogh.

Indeed. I went to the show unit of one of those glass towers in Wong Amat one afternoon. The unit was on a corner and had floor to ceiling glass on two sides. Even with the biggest air-conditioner I have ever seen blowing out ice-cold air, it was still like being in an oven, and you couldn't sit or stand anywhere without being in the direct sun. And because of the design if you wanted blinds they would have to be electrically operated also.

I totally agree about the glass. However, louvres, glass or wood are the way to go unless you don't mind living in an airless european style bungalow/Thai ruan baan zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

There are of course many options. But research and an eye for 'green' (or any design differing from that which I've seen of the monstrosities/eyesores thrown up here, absolutely necessary. Tell your new chum the builder to put away his generic design book bought from local Thai bookshop, throw away that 'back of fag packet' design, and RESEARCH. Consider, this is something will very likely be your home for many years (farang/thai developers have neither a clue nor give a flying one re resell).

Rather like this country's first tentative steps toward democracy, more appreciation of the climate in which these modern designs borrowed/copied from outside of the tropics, must be given more thought to. No one wants to spend a lot of money on air conditioning which is very expensive, and unnecessary. I speak from personal experience. I have a beautiful architect (farang) spec built air cooled 3 storey house on Phuket (and no, I'm NOT selling), and only a 7 HUNDRED baht utlity bill. It can be done.

Edited June 30, 2012 by silsburyhill

[RAZZELL]

Any pics of your house?

RAZZ

[crazykopite]

What does really piss me off is that this house would cost at least double the price on either Koh Samui or Koh Phangan building cost for a very basic house and I mean basic start from 16,000 bht a sq mtr. just had a quote for a 1 bedroom basic house polished cement floors/walls total size including small terrace of 100 sq mtr cost 1,950.000 thai bht just for the build does not include land. They use the excuse of transportation the builders who they employ are from up north or from Burma it's a bloody joke but what can you do except move north !!!! Even tried to persuade a building company to come from the north but they said it was to much hassle !!!

[crazykopite]

Absolutely hideous. I wouldn't accept it as a gift.

That said, the price doesn't surprise me. It doesn't look like an expensive construction at all being apparently mostly glass, wood cladding, large plain tiles and laminate floors, none of which are very expensive.

Im with you on this.....glass per sqm is far cheaper than bricks and mortar. Trouble with these places apart from living in a fish bowl.....you need blinds closed in the day to keep out the sun and at night so its not like being on big brother..the style suits some thogh.

The glass (German Dbl glazed ) including all brushed steel frames in my house cost over 2 5 million baht very rarely do I need to use air con and yes they do have a slight tint in my lounge alone there is 30 sq mtrs of glass why hide the views !!!! I can assure you it is not like living in a fish bowl far from it but there again my nearest neighbour is 150 mtrs away

[crazykopite]

Here are a couple of pics of the glass sliding doors in my lounge the glass and steel frames are a bigger percentage than the block work they all have mossie net runners but as we are so high up in the jungle we do not get very many, the house was designed around wind flow so air con is not required most of the time also outdoor overhangs for sitting out help in keeping the place cool The front and back of the house have the same glass fitments as on one side we get sunrise and on the other side we get sunset

[RAZZELL]

CK - I saw your house on the other housebuilding thread...lovely

Something like the house I posted in the OP would be amazing on Samui...

How is it living with all that glass? Does it get ridiculously hot or not? How long was your build? Surely if you engaged a decent architect they could get the builders to go anywhere? (at a cost?)

This one would be a treat on Samui...

http://freshome.com/...sive-landscape/

RAZZ

Edited June 30, 2012 by RAZZELL

[crazykopite]

CK - I saw your house on the other housebuilding thread...lovely

Something like the house I posted in the OP would be amazing on Samui...

How is it living with all that glass? Does it get ridiculously hot or not? How long was your build? Surely if you engaged a decent architect they could get the builders to go anywhere? (at a cost?)

This one would be a treat on Samui...

http://freshome.com/...sive-landscape/

RAZZ

Because of the double glazing the house is pretty cool without the need for the air con as well as that the glass has a tint and there are good overhangs/ terracing. The build cost without land was 19,000,000 without the land but that is for a 500 sq mtr bali house + carport and 2 mtr deep pool, All the teak is over 100 years old and all inside and out is marble or granite on top of that there are 3 indoor jacuzzi's and one outdoor's. The house was designed to get the best from the prevailing winds it is very rare that my electric bill is more than 3,000 baht per month which is not much for such a big place. All said and done I feel that if this house was in CM the build would have only cost 12/13 mil but there again CM is not by the sea where as I am only a 10 minute drive from one of Samui's best beaches as well as the well known Santibury golf course

[RAZZELL]

Thanks for you response.

What was the building process like? A nightmare?

RAZZ

[Rsquared]

....only 13M baht!

Everything is relative is it not? If you have 100M Baht that is not much at all.........but if you've got squat, that's a lot of bags of rice.

Nice house though.......I am happy with my meagre 0.8M Baht home.

Sounds like you are in the market for building your dream home Razz, hope all goes well and remember to show us the finished project.

Cheers.

[RAZZELL]

The dream house is a way off yet...but give it a few years

For looks, size and style just in a league of it's own.

RAZZ

[w11guy]

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

That is very cheap for such a large house in a capital city. Would cost $3m-$20m or more in London.

[RAZZELL]

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

That is very cheap for such a large house in a capital city. Would cost $3m-$20m or more in London.

Exactly - I imagine coming from W11 (Notting Hill/Holland Park?) everywhere is cheap!

On a serious note this house is huge...if a slightly smaller version could be built for 10m - £200k it would be a steal.

RAZZ

Edited July 8, 2012 by RAZZELL

[RAZZELL]

A newer design from the same team:

http://www.officeat.com/

First design featured in this book which looks quite an interesting read/resource.

http://www.amazon.co...ert powell thai

RAZZ

Edited August 27, 2012 by RAZZELL