Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Rainforest Retreat is in Perfect Harmony With Surroundings

Posted: 29 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Some homes seem to simply spring organically from their surroundings rather than being placed there by the human hands of architects and builders.

The breathtaking Hilltop House on the edge of Thailand’s Kaoyai National Park is a home that seems more in tune with its environment than most.

Designed by the architects at Openbox Company Limited, the Hilltop House began with a rocky, richly forested landscape. Although the site is a very large 8000 square meters, the client asked only for a small, one-bedroom, 350 square meter house.

The spot chosen for the home was already occupied by two massive, beautiful ficus trees. There was also a large pile of rocks at the site which had lain abandoned for more than 40 years.

These existing elements became important parts of the final structure: the pile of stones was largely left untouched, with the house elevated above it. The ficus trees almost seem to support the home as they grow alongside the structure which seems to be part of the rainforest itself.

Some of the existing stone was used to build the walkway to the home, and a stacked concrete staircase was added to guide the resident and visitors to the entrance.

The home was built with an obvious reverence for nature. Even inside, gigantic windows and organic materials bring the outside in at every possible opportunity.

    

Convertible Stair Ramp: Home Accessibility Design Concept

Posted: 28 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT

While the implementation of such a design is problematic (discussed more below), the idea is quite brilliant: it reduces the amount of space that needs to be dedicated to either stairs or ramp, letting the same footprint serve both needs.

In theory, a switch flips from ramp to step mode and back, allowing someone in a wheelchair to change it as needed. In practice, we see the first problem: if the ramp is kick-activated, it is not exactly wheelchair-friendly.

The larger issue, though, is one of slope – a typical wheelchair ramp needs to be much shallower than a normal staircase. Still, you could imagine extending the ramp out past the stairs to ease that slope, or evolve the design in different directions. As a starting point, it does raise good design questions, even if it doesn’t present all of the answers. Designed by Chan Wen Jie.

    

Comments system

Disqus Shortname