A modern interpretation of the sloping roof Sala Bang Pa-In Hotel

The resort is located in the rural landscape of Ayutthaya, Thailand, between the Chao Phraya River on one side and a canal on the other. The architecture is a contemporary reinterpretation of the local rural landscape, intended to reconnect people with the life and atmosphere of the river. The building is scaled down to blend completely with the local houses in the environment, interweaving with the branches of the forest, and is organised as a cluster with changing positions and different building heights. The roofline of the cluster is consistent with the surrounding village. Yet the spatial quality of the villas remains modern. The living spaces of the villas are designed as if floating in nature, one side fully opened to the river and the other opened to a small courtyard opposite. The hotel rooms have a special bay window that serves as a comfortable nook to curl up in, while also connecting to the rural canal landscape in the distance. Guests arriving from the main island first pass through the cool lobby space beneath the wooden stilt structure, just as one is welcomed in the living space of a traditional Thai house. In the surrounding environment and typical Thai rural landscape, houses and villages are often full of colour, red, blue, green, yellow and pink. The project is a boutique riverside resort in Ayutthaya that uses modern pitched-roof volumes, stilt structures and bright accent colours to reinterpret the Thai village. It is a demonstration of how a luxury hotel can be scaled down to the character of the rural landscape, using the same roofline and stilt construction as the surrounding houses while providing contemporary comfort. The villas float above the river on pilotis, opening fully to the water and producing a quiet, modern take on the traditional Thai home.