SALA Bang Pa-in

[English text below, provided by architect] SALA Bang pa-in, sebuah resor di pedesaan Ayutthaya, Thailand, dikelilingi oleh Sungai Chao Phraya dan kanal alami. Desainnya memadukan lanskap pedesaan lokal dengan gaya kontemporer, membangun hubungan erat antara tamu dan suasana alam sekitar.

Tamu disambut melalui lobi yang berdiri di bawah bangunan kayu bertiang, mengingatkan pada penerimaan di rumah tradisional Thailand. Dalam konteks pedesaan Thailand, rumah sering diwarnai merah, biru, hijau, atau kuning. Lobi resor pun dicat merah, menyatu dengan warna-warni lokal.

Jembatan merah menghubungkan tamu dari kanal ke area utama resor. Warna merahnya mencolok, tapi justru menyatu dengan suasana desa yang ceria dan penuh warna. Kehadirannya seolah-olah ‘menjembatani’ arsitektur baru dengan warna dan budaya lokal.

Menyeberangi jembatan, tamu tiba di platform kedatangan dengan pohon raintree sebagai simbol selamat datang.

Resor ini dirancang dengan skala yang serasi dengan rumah-rumah di sekitarnya. Dikelilingi pepohonan, bangunan diatur dalam kelompok-kelompok kecil dengan posisi dan ketinggian berbeda. Garis atap bangunan mengikuti karakteristik desa sekitarnya. Setiap vila menampilkan desain modern yang terlihat melayang, dengan area utama terbuka menghadap sungai di satu sisi dan halaman kecil di sisi lainnya. Kamar-kamar memiliki jendela bay yang nyaman, menghubungkan tamu dengan pemandangan kanal.

Restoran, kafe, dan bar menjadi area berkumpul utama, menggunakan struktur kain dengan atap miring yang merefleksikan bentuk desa setempat. Pemandangan sungai terbuka, dengan tempat duduk hingga ke tepi Sungai Chao Phraya. Batu bata digunakan sebagai sentuhan historis, tetapi konstruksinya terasa ringan. Batu bata dibuat seolah-olah melayang – cara modern untuk menghadirkan material tradisional.

Atmosfer SALA Bang pa-in terasa sederhana, santai, dan menyatu dengan kehidupan di tepi sungai. Ruang-ruang kontemporer yang dihiasi kain transparan, batu bata, kayu alami, dan anyaman menciptakan ikatan erat dengan Ayutthaya, menyajikan sentuhan lokal dan menghargai keterampilan tradisional setempat. (uci)

SALA Bang Pa-in

The resort is situated in the rural landscape of Ayutthaya, Thailand, surrounded by the Chao Phraya River on one side and the canal on the other. The architectural design is a contemporary reinterpretation of the local rural landscape and intends to connect people to the river’s life and atmosphere.

Guests would arrive from the mainland through the breezy lobby space underneath the wooden building on stilts, just like how one would be welcomed at the living space of the traditional Thai house. In the surrounding immediate context and the Thai rural landscape, houses and villages are often full of colors – red, blue, green, yellow, pink, etc. The lobby building nested within the village is rendered red to speak the same language of its colorful context.

The bridge as an extension of the lobby bringing people from one side of the canal to the main resort side also continues the red color. Although this red bridge seems very ‘distinct’ in its color, it is actually ‘blending’ into the colorful village context – ‘bridging’ the new architecture to the local tone and culture.

After crossing the red footbridge across the canal to the resort site, one arrives at the arrival platform, which is marked by a large, well-preserved rain tree at the entry point.

The buildings are scaled down to be in grain with the surrounding local houses, alternating and surrounded by lush trees, and arranged in clusters with varying positioning, in and out with various building heights. The rooflines of the clusters correspond to those of the surrounding villages. Yet the villas are contemporary in their spatiality. The villa’s living space is designed as if it is suspended between nature, with one full front opening up and connecting to the river and another full opening up to the small courtyard on the opposite side. The hotel room has a special bay window as a cozy little place to snuggle in and connect with the rural canal view beyond.

The main gathering space of the resort is the restaurant, cafe, and bar. The architecture is a casual fabric structure with multiple pitched rooflines referencing yet modernizing the vernacular village skyline. Its open-air atmosphere captures the sense of tropical architecture. The entire space is looking out to the river and the seating flows to the outdoors, cascading down to connect with the Chao Phraya River. The finishing of the restaurant is predominantly brick, reminiscent of the traces of the old Ayutthaya. Yet the construction of the brick is surprisingly weightless, almost as if the bricks are floating in mid-air, a contemporary tectonic twist of the age-old traditional material.

The overall atmosphere of the resort can be defined as simple, casual, relaxing, and connecting to the life of the river. It is a contemporary space with a materiality touch of sheer fabric, bricks, natural woods, and wickerwork as a linkage to the Ayutthaya locality and its craftsmanship.

Architecture Firm: Department of Architecture Co.
Design Principal(s): Twitee Vajrabhaya, Amata Luphaiboom
Design Team: Jirapatr Jirasukprasert, Worrawit Leangweeradech, Tanapat Phanlert, Ramida Sakulteera, Kwanchanok Pornchaipisut, Fahlada Roonnaphai

Name of Project: SALA Bang Pa-in
Location: Ayutthaya, Thailand
Owner: SALA Bang Pa-In, Co., Ltd.
Design Period: Start 2016 and completed in April 2021
Site Area: 7,680 sqm.
Floor Area: 4,000 sqm.
Interior Designer: Department of Architecture Co.
Contractor: S45 Engineering Co., Ltd
Structure: POST Co., Ltd.
M&E: SKT Engineering Co., Ltd
Lighting: Accent Studio x FOS Lighting Studio Co., Ltd.