OBK Studio has designed a Thai tea shop in the Chinatown neighbourhood of Bangkok, which features a reflective ceiling that acts as a light source.

The ceiling helps illuminate the interior space at night, and enhances natural daylight during the day. The only light source from the concrete house are the strip lights which are flushed into the original wall and a renovated one.

The shop front blends in with 100-year-old street in the Chinatown neighbourhood. Traditionally vernacular Thai houses are designed to have an empty space on the first floor for climate ventilation and flooding. To match this, the entrance has a big volume of empty space, which allows a view of the entire back of the wooden house.

Originally the wooden piles supporting the house that were a metre deep into the earth are now resting on the original red concrete floor, providing a higher and more functional first floor.

This project has been longlisted in the rebirth project category of Dezeen Awards 2020.

Architect: OBK Studio
Project: FV Cafe Bangkok