Urban development is under a microscope – as it should be. We are starting to learn, among other things, from the mistakes that the car-crazy plans have created including mindless urban sprawl, one-dimensional and boring sleeping communities, dead downtowns and cookie-cutter shopping malls.
Our vote goes for projects where previously industrial areas and structures are re-claimed for citizens’ use, where green space is given a serious priority and where all available space is used intelligently for the benefit of the people who actually make cities come alive.
We are including in this smart use of urban space any kind of intelligent use of rooftops as well. Rooftop gardens, community spaces, restaurants and anything on rooftops that creates another dimension for city living without adding another new building or structure, is what we are cheering for.
Although small in scope and private in use, the Skyscape house by WARchitect in Bangkok is a great example of a smart rooftop development.
The house is located on top of a five-storey apartment building in the Lat Phrao district of Bangkok in a densely populated mixed neighbourhood of apartment buildings, offices and small restaurants.
The owner of the rooftop house owns the entire apartment building as well and he and his four-member family wanted a temporary private hideaway that they don’t plan on using for entertainment.
Thawin Harnboonseth, the managing director of the Bangkok-based WARchitect, tells The Cool Hunter that this gave the designers the opportunity to create a highly minimalist, visually crisp and naked house with an open plan and an almost-transparent appearance.
The rooftop is in total 270 square metres (2,906 sq. ft) in size and previously it housed only large water tanks. Now the house takes up 150 square metres (1,615 sq. ft) of that space and because it is set in the back half of the rooftop, the house cannot be seen from the street.
The room grid of the house follows the grid of the structural pillars of the apartment below. The front part includes three segments that house the dining room and living room and a bedroom with huge glass doors from which the panoramic view can be seen. The back part’s three segments include a bathroom, kitchen and the courtyard that links everything together.
The owner had a large quantity of panels of balau wood, a Southeast Asian tropical hardwood that is slightly reddish hue. Although some of the planks were slightly defective with uneven coloring an some cracks and marks from sawing and handling, the architects used the cladding extensively throughout the house giving it a warm and cohesive look that is also locally familiar. Tuija Seipell.
Recent posts
-
June 24, 2022
Can Brut villa, Ibiza, Spain
Can Brut is a family villa on the island of Ibiza located on an 85,000 square-metre cove plot overlooking Spain’s Balearic Sea. The plot overlooks...
-
June 20, 2022
Canyon House, Los Angeles, California, USA
When Rustic Canyon house was completed in May 2018, one of the residence’s redeeming qualities already then was the surrounding nature. As the 4,100 square-foot...
-
June 13, 2022
Beach Café, Busan, South Korea
Known as the Miami of South Korea, Busan is famous for its beaches and mountains. When the design team at Seoul-based Matter Better Interior Design...
-
May 31, 2022
At The Window/Table – Diana Sosnowska
‘Woman Smoking at The Window’ by UK photographer Diana Sosnowska is a carefully staged photographic self-portrait taken in the artist’s former apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland,...
-
May 30, 2022
Prime Seafood Palace, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Toronto-based restaurateur Matty Matheson is known for many things but subtlety is not one of them. He swears, huffs and waves his hands, and his...
-
May 18, 2022
Barn-Inspired Residence, Hudson Valley, New York State, US
Magic can result when architect and client have known each other for two decades and when both are willing to take the time to consider...
-
May 17, 2022
Private Reading Room, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
A vast book collection and a trusting friendship between designers and their client helped turn cramped ground-floor rooms into a sun-filled, tranquil private reading room....
-
April 27, 2022
Casa Aire Mountain Retreat, Medellín, Colombia
“It’s not a place to show off, it’s a place for my soul to rest,” says 37-year-old Colombian reggaeton superstar, José Álvaro Osorio Balvín known...
-
April 26, 2022
Beach House Overhaul, East Hampton, New York, USA
The shingle-clad East Hampton beach house, located on the coveted Further Lane, has an illustrious celebrity-amplified past as do so many in the area. It...
-
April 15, 2022
Canyon House Restoration, Brentwood Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S
In interiors, we are not fans of subdued and prissy nor decorative and antique-filled. When we saw the first images of the Californian Canyon house...
-
April 14, 2022
Weekend Music Playlist 37
-
April 6, 2022
The Library, Showroom For luxury Car Collection, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Owning any kind of car today is questionable. Owning a whole collection of luxury cars even more so. But there is no denying that the...