Harudot is a stand-alone café in Chonburi, another famous beachside town in Thailand. This café is a result of a collaboraLon between Nana Coffee Roasters, brand owner, and the landlord who has a business selling exoLc plants. The two main requirements for this café are to, firstly, design a “desLnaLon” with an interesLng experience that is able to a=ract visitors, and secondly, to include the landlord’s idenLty in the design in order to signify this unique collaboraLon. The architect chooses to focus on the trees, where normally, they would be placed outside of the architecture or in some cases is surrounded by buildings in the form of a courtyard. Here, the architect explores the idea of combining the architecture and the trees together, as if the seed has been planted and grew out from the building itself. The architecture becomes the shelter for the trees and the two elements merge together as one.
The building, separated into smaller masses to control the scale of the gable form, which created different zones such as the bar, coffee drinking zone, a lounge, a meeLng room and the restrooms. The form of the building which resembles giant gable roofs are pulled apart at certain parts, allowing the tree to penetrate through a void to the sky while creaLng a semi-outdoor space underneath. These voids also resulted in an interesLng curve form which added movement and dynamic to the architecture. The exterior of the building is cladded with Lmber in black color for a subtle look that will contrast with the interior walls, which are cladded with pine in natural color, giving a soWer tone to create a cozy atmosphere for the interior. The seaLng arrangement is designed to be conLnuous like a ribbon, wrapping around the interior spaces to create conLnuity whereas the height of these counters differ to suit the different funcLons and uses.
CHONBURI, THAILAND
DESIGN: 2022 | COMPLETION: 2023
ARCHITECT: IDIN ARCHITECTS
INTERIOR DESIGNER: IDIN ARCHITECTS
