The YK residence was awarded to the architect as a renovation and expansion project for a joint-family home. With open views, capacity for a split-level plan, and ample space for a lawn, the site offered a multitude of opportunities.
As a developer, the client wanted to incorporate a home office and a village area in his home that would serve as a meeting place for his associates while maintaining the privacy of the family. He wanted to expand the former residence to accommodate his sister and her family as well, who was moving back home from abroad. Thus, the desired an open, lively residence that would fulfil the needs of the joint family, while creating spaces where everyone could come together, interact and enjoy.
To accommodate the privacy of the family, the public office area was located in the basement level, along with the parking. So, if a business associate is visiting the residence they can walk straight into the office area, while members of the family can climb a metal staircase that leads them to the ground floor –where they are greeted by a sprawling lawn and views into the house. The former residence was built towards the back of the plot, on a small area. Thus, the defining idea of the project was to use a central courtyard to connect the existing part of the residence to the new one, creating a single cohesive space.
The lounge and master bedroom open up to the lawn, enjoying the view of the lawn through a shaded verandah. While the drawing room is similarly defined to the front of the house, the rest of the rooms are arranged around the courtyard, not only receiving swathes of daylight from within but also becoming connected through a central open space. On the first floor, the three-bedroom are all connected to terraces with green sitting spaces, and balconies that look down into the double-height foyer.
The façade is a dynamic play in volumes, terraces, and cantilevers. The volumes are expressed in a local stone from Sawat: warm, rustic and earthy. The rough texture of the stone contrasts perfectly with the smooth planes of glass, and the sharp lines of the metal cantilevers. The cantilevers provide a juxtaposition to the heavy volumes, while the vertical metal beams piece them both together. Details such as the shingles lining the cantilevers, the thin linear grooves in the stone volumes, and the glass balconies, perfectly accentuate the use of contrasting materials.
Entering into the double-height foyer, you have an immediate view of the central courtyard, giving you the feeling of being surrounded by open space. A metal bridge and balconies look into the foyer from above, connecting you to the people moving around upstairs. A linear skylight breaks the roof, a perfect ray of light shining down on the stone walls that carry from the exterior into the interior of the house as well. The use of wood and glass, in the bridge and stairway, along with the textured stone, gives the interior spaces a polished yet cosy feeling.
A single opium tree becomes the highlight of the courtyard, and towards its side sits a reflection bowl, a small body of water in a dry land. Sitting in the part of the kitchen intruding into the courtyard, the family can enjoy the Sapium changing colours with the season, while birds chirp around the water bowl. In this way, the architect was able to translate the needs of the client into a residence that protected the privacy of the family while offering them different kinds of experiences and interaction, as well as creating a design that embodied controlled modernity merged with the soul of a courtyard interaction.
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