Beautbureau, a Bangkok-based architecture and design studio, has designed #11 II, a residence and architect’s studio in the Thai capital based on a classic nine-square grid. Built on the site of a previous family home, this project blends familiar and contemporary materials, preserving the memories of the old within the fabric of the new. The building subtly incorporates passive design techniques and mindful material choices.

Number Eleven the Second

The original house, #11, was the childhood home of the architect-owner of #11 II (Number Eleven the Second). Home to a family of five, #11 was a modest, two-bedroom, two-storey detached house with a two-car garage. The family eventually outgrew the house and the original structure was demolished. The plot remained vacant for almost two decades.

The project marked the return of one of the siblings to the neighbourhood, where they reimagined and designed a new structure on the old family plot. The new residence, a three-bedroom, two-storey house, is a contemporary overlay on the original home’s roughly L-shaped footprint. Adjacent to the residence, on the site of a lawn once shaded by mango trees, a new freestanding, two-storey volume houses the architect’s studio.

A nod to the nine-square grid

The two buildings are connected via a series of elevated outdoor terraces that form a cohesive live-work compound organised into nine spatial quarters. These are visually and symbolically demarcated by four intersecting lines (#), a subtle nod to the nine-square grid pedagogical instrument. A conceptual design tool, the nine-square grid explores spatial order, hierarchy, and composition within a structured 3×3 matrix. #11 II has been conceived with an ordered spatial logic of nine quadrants, some filled and some left open.

A reference to the traditional Thai house (Ruen Thai)

With a compact 480-square-metre plot, the additional programmes necessitated minimising perimeter setbacks, resulting in a spatial configuration that internalises green and open spaces. Two of the nine quadrants are occupied by planted courtyards, while the central quadrant remains entirely open to the sky, reinforcing the inward-focused spatial logic. 

High-ceilinged bedroom and office pavilions on the upper level are arranged in separate corners, and clad in prefabricated black latticed panels. A series of open terraces, verandas, and connecting walkways unify these elements. The spatial configuration references the traditional Thai house (Ruen Thai). It features individual pavilions, each with its own purpose: bedrooms (Ruen Non), the living and dining area (Hor Nang), and kitchen (Ruen Krua). These pavilions are clustered around a central open terrace (Charn) on an elevated platform.

The ground floor of the office building is left airy and flexible, with wide openings and sliding partitions, recalling the versatile ground-floor space (Tai Thun) underneath the elevated main floor of a Ruen Thai.

Beautbureau’s design draws upon principles intrinsic to traditional tropical vernacular architecture, promoting passive environmental performance. Functional spaces are cross-ventilated and the Tai Thun-inspired ground floor promotes airiness.

A modern reinterpretation of traditional Ruen Thai motifs

The black latticed facade system is composed of prefabricated wood-plastic composite panels. The prefabrication method is a reference to the patterned wood panels (Fa Pakon) typical of the Ruen Thai. Here, the traditional motif is reinterpreted through abstraction, with its colours both desaturated and deepened, and its fabrication method updated with contemporary techniques. 

Cladding both solid walls and voids alike, the system forms a continuous black envelope that unifies the upper volume. This creates the effect of an elevated monolithic mass that appears in stark contrast to the ground floor’s monochromatic white components.

A fusion of the familiar and the contemporary

For Beautbureau, nostalgia plays a significant role in the remainder of the material palette. Contemporary materials, most notably the wood-plastic composite cladding and decking, are deliberately juxtaposed with materials that recall the original house #11. These include terrazzo, locally sourced Thai marble, timber doors and windows, textured cement render, and weathered brass fittings. 

As a result, memories of the old house softly intertwine with the fabric of the new, creating a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity in this Bangkok abode.