PVC sheets provide weather protection for the gridded plywood walls of this rural Thailand bar, designed by Bangkok Project Studio to offer visitors river views while they sup wine.
Located on the banks of Chao Phraya River, Wine Ayutthaya is a tourist attraction for visitors to Ayutthaya, an ancient capital city 85 kilometres north of Bangkok.
"The building was constructed to become a new tourist attraction in hopes of stimulating the economy of local communities surrounding this world heritage site, which was the capital city of Thailand 400 years ago," said Bangkok Project Studio, which is led by architect by Boonserm Premthada.
The Bangkok-based studio wanted the bar to blend in with the surrounding trees and local houses – hence the exposed wooden framework. Local craftsmen built the almost-cube-shaped structure using plywood and steel.
One-millimetre-thick sheets of PVC are draped in front of the tall exposed waffle structure walls to protect them against rain and humidity. The plywood is also coated in resin to provide protection from water damage.
But the sheets can be lifted up on sunny days to allow the breeze to flow through the interior.
"The locally found wooden houses are the inspiration to create this steel-reinforced plywood structure,"Â said the studio.
"The waffle walls can be a light filter that helps cool down the interior atmosphere," it added. "Moreover, wine drinkers can enjoy another depth of experience through the sense of smell mixture between plywood and wine."
Inside, five spiral staircases provide access to four raised platforms that are set at different levels inside to offer a range of vistas.
The stairs twist around the steel structural columns. They also feature a curved strip of plywood that wraps the base of the metal handrail to accent the outer walls.
A wine bar and extra seating is created on the ground floor, where pendant lights hang down from the gridded ceiling.
The Chao Phraya River is the major river in Thailand, flowing from Bangkok into the Gulf of Thailand. Other new architecture projects located on the river include a hotel by Onion featuring fluted brick walls that frame scalloped views of the sky.
Photography is by Spaceshift Studio.
Project credits:
Architect: Boonserm Premthada
Design team: Nathan Mehl
Consultant: Boonserm Premthada