Boonsong Osot's Office

Sustainable Design for a Modern Era: Boonsong Osot’s Office and Warehouse in Nonthaburi

Boonsong Osot is a renowned Thai company specializing in producing herbal medicines. The goal of their new project is to construct an office and warehouse in the vicinity of Nonthaburi Province. The architect plans to incorporate parts of Thai house architecture into the design of contemporary office buildings, similar to how Boonsong Osot utilizes traditional Thai herbs in modern medicine. The project owner has three key requirements: an office building, a living area with guest bedrooms for company visitors, and a warehouse. The layout of the building is designed to accommodate different needs, and it is meticulously arranged in a sequence and pattern where the office area is positioned at the front. The offices occupy both the first and the second floors. Adjacent to that is the core section of the structure, designed as a space for both relaxation and leisure. The second story serves as a relaxing area and provides access to the bedrooms on the third floor.

Both portions are constructed with interlocking forms, with an open space towards the garden at the center to establish a tranquil ambiance. The main entry on the second level features a prominent walkway structure that extends outward. Parking is located in front of the entrance, and the warehouse is situated at the far end of the area.

Due to the congruence between the architectural concept and the style and features of traditional Thai houses, the building has been divided into zones, which also aids in facilitating ventilation. Additionally, it facilitates enhanced natural light access into the building’s interior. In addition, the team repurposed the walkway section that links the areas through a spacious outdoor terrace known as a “chaan” in Thai to establish a semi-formal multi-purpose area where users can gather, converse, and utilize as an informal meeting space. Furthermore, the primary functional space of the building was elevated to the second floor to prevent flooding and allocate the majority of the ground floor area for service purposes. This concept is akin to elevating the functional spaces on the stilts found in traditional Thai houses.

The roofs of the structures are gable roofs that resemble traditional Thai houses. However, the design changes the orientation of the roof ridge rotation to give the structure a distinctive form. As a result, when the buildings are viewed from different angles, they take on different shapes. The architects used metal sheets to construct the gable roof. This material supports the architectural idea, which aims to preserve the essence of traditional Thai houses. Metal sheet is quite important in this area of the task as it is easier to create a sloping roof ridge. Furthermore, the capacity to flex and bend into various forms, maintain continuity in various joints and accept the overlay of gutters and other systems.

The capacity of COLORBOND® steel to flex and bend into varied forms, maintain continuity in various joints, and support the overlay of gutters and other system parts has a significant impact on the particular architectural design of Thai houses built with modern materials.

The walls are double-layered, which helps prevent heat and sound, and prevents rainwater from flowing back into the building. All of this significantly impacts the particular architectural design of Thai houses built with modern materials. Metal sheet is used to maintain the structure’s architectural integrity and original aesthetic identity. Additionally, the architect employs a variety of materials, including wood, which is the traditional material used in Thai architectural constructions. Despite the multitude of distinct components associated with Thai houses, the language used in the design establishes a degree of resemblance that merges with a modern mindset; thus, it perfectly showcases the fusion of traditional and contemporary ethos of Thai herbal medicines produced by Boonsong Osot.