Gift Box House

About the project

A house in Prachinburi, on a roadside plot with harsh, very hot sun. From our first site visit we set ourselves one task: deal with that heat. So we wrapped the house in a double skin. The west-facing front is one large wall that blocks the sun and the view from the road, and on the east a concrete block screen filters the light before it enters. On the hottest days the inside of the house is more than 5°C cooler than outside.

The family is two parents and two children. The father enjoys making things, so the front of the house is a workshop; the mother likes baking with the kids. We placed the kitchen and the workshop so they can see each other across a small garden. The living and dining room is a tall hall that opens to the back garden. The wind passes over the garden and a pond before it comes inside, so you can sit there all day without the air-conditioning.

What made us happiest was seeing this family live comfortably in their house, and hearing the owners name it themselves: the “gift box”.