I had mine built without the whirly gigs on top used earth and have plants growing keeps house cool all year and I can eat what grows on roof dual purpose roof. But using slate tiles also good and good for over fifty years had those on house in states.

Thank you, each one of you. I find these practical examples fascinating. I never thought

expats could build such modern and elaborate houses in Thailand

aaa.jpgI designed this and had this house built a few years ago. I love Spanish style.

Yes i would go for this style any day.

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Lovely home!

I notice the flat roofs, presumably concrete. Does the upper floor keep reasonably cool or is there a lot of heat transmitted down from the ceiling in the late afternoon?

the roof is coated with a product that is always cool to the touch and I have a number is stainless steel pumpkins on the roof for heat to escape

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Can you tell what the name of that product is , I might want to use it too.

Regarding tropical climate, I would never choose flat roof. Rain water makes the whole building look dirty after a while and mold is going to start appear.

There is a very good reason why old Thai style buildings had huge overlapping roofs. If one doubts my words just have a look on those concrete flat roofed buildings in any city. Growing black mold...

I agree with you about the roof.

Spain is a good place to see what to have as a roof.

In the very rainy north, they build the very pointed roof, first. It can look funny to see the pillars in place and the roof way up there whilst they build the rest of the house underneath, in the dry!

As you travel more south the pitch of the roof grows less until, in the very south east, they are flat.

But here it is semi-dessert. they construct flat concrete roofs and then add soil (a few years ago, not allowed now) or cement mixed with crushed polystyrene foam tp create the slope for any rain to wash off.

They often have long spouts at the drain points to ensure that the water stays off the walls, otherwise it is piped away to a storage tank for household use..

The design of Erics house , from the few pictures shown, seems to concentrate on keeping the inside cool and liveable without too much energy being consumed and that is a great idea.

Again, in Spain, in the hot areas, they tend to have very small windows, very high up the walls. It may be dark iside but there is a great air flow and it is cool.

It depends what you want I suppose.I

f there is a good supply of cheap always available energy about - go for designs that are best when supported that way.

There has to be a compromise between what is possible against what is practical and what you can afford, a) to construct and to maintain.

A great job, especially considering the poor skills in the construction game here.

Did Eric have do his own tests on the concrete when it arrived before allowing it to be poured?

Not containing the correct mix of materials, too wet etc?

I have experience of a brand new house on an estate where a structural pillar was built with a very short mix.

Later, when fixing a nodding wall fan, the fitting fell off. Insufficient cement. It was like a sand castle.

The builder said that the pillar was not intended to support a fan!

True story!

Well done Eric.

Very nice. Thanks for the photos and thanks to all the others for sharing.

Very nice house inside and outside.

While not everyone has the same idea of what's nice and what is not, I find it quite inappropriate to trash someone else's taste. Hopefully Eric will update us on how that flat roof stood up to Thai climate and whether newer materials make this style acceptable or not.

Thanks for sharing pics with us.

From World Architecture Community>Critical Regionalism

(www.world architecture.org/theory-issues/hh/critical-regionalism-architecture-theory-issues-pages.html)

In the eighties, Alexander Tzonis, Liane Lefaivre {1981} and Kenneth Frampton {1985} created the term critical regionalism to describe a contemporary architecture which could neither be branded as internationalism nor as a folkloric or historical concept of region and architecture. The architecture of critical regionalism makes reference to the site, the genius loci on a more abstract level. Rather than dealing extensively with the region itself and a particular regional style, Framptons concept of regionalism mainly focuses on the relationship of a building to its site and location in a sociological context. Tzonis and Lefaivre {1981} chose the term critical regionalism in reference to the Frankfurter Schules {Adorno, Horkheimer} critical theory. This theory claimed a delusion of the objective illusion as the only way to obtain a critical and independent position within rapidly developing capitalist, Western societies. It was seen as a way of becoming independent from the capitalist {neo-liberal} mechanisms of media and economy, which tend to dominate the world in a process of globalization. According to Tzonis and Lefaivre, architecture should also refer to the notion of self-reflection. It should be independent of an emotional {therefore easy to manipulate} view of a countrys way of looking at region, tradition and history. Furthermore, Framptons critical attempt was to work against an ever-increasing industrialized and standardized world-wide use of building materials and construction methods which neglects and destroys local building traditions and their transgression into contemporary architecture. In the 1990s, the concept of Critical Regionalism has become the key theme of an intense and lasting debate on local, modern architecture {see, among others, Axthelm 1990 and Achleitner 1997}. In the process of the reflection on the own and the foreign in contemporary architecture, the term critical regionalism was also used as a theoretical basis to describe modern architecture in developing countries. It was taken up in many countries of the South to re-examine their traditions in search of their "own" traditional values, principles and national identity. This process has had an impact on contemporary architecture and has eventually triggered an intense discussion on how local "own-ness" should be created without simply copying fragments from the past.

editorJonathan Budd

Congratulations on finishing your place - it's lovely! I know from experience how amazingly stressful the whole process can be.

Designed and built this one ten years ago...still in excellent condition, mostly because we've yet to move in!! We were trying to combine Western and Thai design, and sort of got it right at times.

Very nice what was the cost of the build looks like polished cement on the exterior is the roof space terracing

Thanks Crazykopite

As it was ten years ago, prices were much lower for both materials and manpower. Additionally, to save more money, we sourced all the materials ourselves, and that was a major pain in the butt. You're right about the polished cement, but the roof is rather unimaginative for the most part. No lovely terraces to be found there!

Congratulations on finishing your place - it's lovely! I know from experience how amazingly stressful the whole process can be.

Designed and built this one ten years ago...still in excellent condition, mostly because we've yet to move in!! We were trying to combine Western and Thai design, and sort of got it right at times.

Wow!!!

Fantastic - well done too!

Someone asked before what the cost per sq m was for Eric's house.

I would be interested to know too, well the total price of the building rather than including the cost of the land.

Friends of mine have built small bungalows in Chiang Mai district and they were very cost effective and during the few years since they were built, have increased in value considerably.

Well done all you courageous people taking these enormous projects on.

what a shocker , why would you build a box like that in a tropical country, ex aus builder and have just finished a aus tropical house , do not need air and the house is is so cool, large overhanging soffits a must, good pitch to roof and double thai insulation, and must be placed on land to suit the perrenial conditions, would love to post some pics but just can not work it out. cost 3.5 bed 2 bath huge everything room under 1m bht and all steel and concrete bobs

Congratulations on finishing your place - it's lovely! I know from experience how amazingly stressful the whole process can be.

Designed and built this one ten years ago...still in excellent condition, mostly because we've yet to move in!! We were trying to combine Western and Thai design, and sort of got it right at times.

I'm guessing at 12,000/sq M. When I'm doing a custom build, I don't actually have a budget. It kind of evolves

Wow!!!

Fantastic - well done too!

Someone asked before what the cost per sq m was for Eric's house.

I would be interested to know too, well the total price of the building rather than including the cost of the land.

Friends of mine have built small bungalows in Chiang Mai district and they were very cost effective and during the few years since they were built, have increased in value considerably.

Well done all you courageous people taking these enormous projects on.

how much do you charge for a haircut ?

A 17 square meter round earh bag cottage built in Thailand by Owen Geiger for a material cost of around 62,000 Baht is shown below. Google earthbag buildings Owen Geiger and you will find a heap of material.

I like the design both in and out. Well done

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Top executed this condo conversion for me as well. Spectacular one bedroom 2 private balconies laundry room

Very nice house inside and outside.

While not everyone has the same idea of what's nice and what is not, I find it quite inappropriate to trash someone else's taste. Hopefully Eric will update us on how that flat roof stood up to Thai climate and whether newer materials make this style acceptable or not.

Thanks for sharing pics with us.

"While not everyone has the same idea of what's nice and what is not, I find it quite inappropriate to trash someone else's taste."

Generally, i'd agree with you, but when its done more for bragging rights and/or even as a covert advertising plot, one must accept all opinions offered.

Sorry this is a photo of his condo renovation

Nice house! Well done. How much was the total cost of construction?

Different tastes and different styles are the norm. If everyone like the same thing it would be very boring. The house I designed cost 12,000 baht/sqm.

Could we know the architect. Really nice work

Could we know the architect. Really nice work

To which house are you referring?

Good for you. I hope there are many happy days well spent. )

Happy, joyous and free

Different tastes and different styles are the norm. If everyone like the same thing it would be very boring. The house I designed cost 12,000 baht/sqm.

What does that 12k/meter cost cover? Architect, materials, land, etc? Would you consider that cost to be the going rate?

Thanks

ps- very nice house!!

Very nice house, OP. Great pictures of it, and it looks like more than a few are jealous.

That is a very hi-so house. You must be rich. Will you be my friend?