We design the whole site as we have a “container” to put the lived compositions to it.  Landscape as part of living place is the must. Negative spaces provide not a waste piece of land, then let habitants gradually growing their imagination together.

In order to do a unique budget hotel, the simple master plan is to celebrate relationship between buildings and open space. We created a sequence of visual experiences through the planning circulation. Light plays with the intricate wooden latticing, which is a mesmerizing feature for guests during their stay in a historic town. Even a budget hotel, the site location is surrounded by historic temples and a lively local night market.

With these requirements and context, we minimized the building footprint as much as possible to get the appropriate negative space for a swimming pool courtyard. We take the advantage of the long frontage; put the lap pool along it and give 80% guest rooms the great pool view.

The main stair simply connects 3 combinations of 2 buildings and a pool at the prime location. It is the main guests’ traffic. The core idea is to link this pool courtyard to interact to tenants’ activity and their visual experience through several dimensions of circulation.

The main entrance located to where preserved trees are. They are the shelter of welcome courtyard. The huge stair façade of elaborate wooden lattice panels expresses local workmanship and material, became a translucent wall of the welcome courtyard. This mesmerizing panel plays with people movement behind at the first impressive of new guest.

Typical room is a module concrete box with cantilevered light box balconies covered by wood lattices floating over the ground. The material combination is to respect to the urban fabric of Chiang Mai old town environment.

This main feature also generates another special room type of living under “Tai-tun”- the unique Thai house space.