Siamese Blossom is a townhouse project on Raminthra Road, a suburb on the north of Bangkok. The scheme aims to create a living space within greenery, conveying a sense of community and to fix the common problems of townhouses. These include a lack of natural ventilation and a lack of natural light found in a long and narrow plot.
The townhouses are arranged to allow the narrow elevations facing East and West to gain minimum heat from the sun. In contrast the long elevations entail openings facing the North and South to get natural ventilation. They become perpendicular with the main public road in the centre of the development. Plants walls and fences along the main public road provide security and control before accessing to the townhouses, whilst maintaining a friendly atmosphere.
The townhouses are systematically designed to be 12m apart. The space in between becomes a shared garden and a key space for natural cross-ventilation between the two rows. In this respect the gardens become a community space as they are only accessible by the immediate townhouses.
Each row of townhouses consists of 7-8 units with 3 different plot widths; 4.8m, 5.2m and 5.45m. 1. 4.8m wide plot – 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms 2. 5.2m wide plot – 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, with internal courtyard on 2nd floor next to bedrooms, allowing bedrooms to have cross ventilation and more natural light 3. 5.45m wide plot – 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, with internal courtyard on the 3rd floor and all living rooms in all units are detached from party walls. A semi-outdoor courtyard is also located on the 3rd floor in the middle of the master bedroom, allowing better cross ventilation and more natural light. Due the width of this plot, all units are able to partially recess from the party wall and have pocket gardens inserted, similar to each unit preceding the end units of the 4.8m and the 5.2m plots.
The units are increased the variation and created better identity for each unit by either mirroring units or increasing the 3rd floor height on random units. These taller units are highlighted by the red brick coloured façade leaving all other units coloured grey. The brick screens are the primary element of the townhouse façade. It is an inexpensive and common material in Thailand. Therefore it has a low carbon footprint and is better suited for the skills of the local construction labour. The brick screens have various functions such as acting as privacy screens, providing sun shading and covering of air-condensing units and downpipes.
