Reclaimed wood fashioned into panels covers this small cafe designed by CUP Scale Studio in the centre of Nakhon Sawan, Thailand.
Called Boobun Pocket Cafe, the compact building comprises a coffee bar on the ground floor and seating areas on its upper storeys that are formed from interlocking wooden platforms.
CUP Scale Studio designed the building to slot into a 10-metre-by-10-metre plot, which is nestled behind two private properties fronting a busy road in the Pak Nam Pho district.
The cafe is raised above the ground on a small plinth and open at its base. This creates an open public space and entrance to the building that helps reduce internal temperatures.
“The raised space under the building is a public space to connect activities,” the studio told Dezeen.
“Elevating the floor creates a separation of usable areas for maximum use in a small space.”
Boobun Pocket Cafe’s facades are made from panels of recycled tropical hardwood collected by the owner. These are of the Teng and Mai Daeng hardwood varieties, which have a distinctive reddish hue.
The facade is gridded, with distinctive curved corners and clerestory windows to bring light into the upper seating areas.
Red-steel I-beams support the floors and the facade. The four primary columns are inset from the elevation and rise up through the building.
On entering Boobun Pocket Cafe, a coffee counter and bakery shelves line the back wall of the open ground floor. Landscaped borders define the perimeter.
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Wooden stairs lead to staggered half-landings and niches in the seating areas, described by the studio as a “living room”, for visitors to the cafe.
A focal point of the interior is a lightwell that helps to illuminate the seating areas.
The raised form of the cafe is informed by Thai vernacular architectural techniques, in which wind passes under the building to help reduce internal temperatures.
Raising the building also helps to minimise the moisture that would cause the wood to shrink and prevents termites from damaging the facades.
CUP Scale Studio is a Thai practice founded by Santi Aramwibul. Boobun Pocket Cafe is shortlisted in the hospitality project category of the Dezeen Awards 2023.
Other cafes in Thailand recently featured on Dezeen include a glass and concrete building in a stepped circular landscape by Looklen Architects and a building consisting of a series of minimal pavilions by IDIN Architects.
The photography is by Chamaiphorn Lamaiphan and Santi Aramwibul.
