In a neighborhood packed with quarries and highways, three dramatic planes keep things cool and quiet for a family of five in this Anghin Architecture-designed house. The Chonburi Sila House is located in Thailand’s Chonburi province, a heavily industrialized area dubbed the Detroit of Asia. The house is therefore designed to shield its occupants. One three sides of its plot, it contends with the fumes and cacophony of industrial activity, leaving only the southern edge looking into a warren of low-slung houses and overgrown yards.

As a result, the structure is designed to project solidity and privacy in all but one direction, the garden to its south. From the surrounding streets, the mineral quality of the parallel planes making up the house’s structure echo the surrounding quarries and factories. But these planes also shield residents from viewing the nearby motorways and scrapyards. At the same time, they provide each volume with views channeled toward the garden.

The three soaring dividers anchoring the house’s design give away very little as to the true shape and size of the interior volumes. From some angles, the interior seems completely hidden within them, while from indoors and from the garden, the walls seem to almost disappear, making way for a vast sense of openness.

Notwithstanding Chonburi’s specific challenges, all of Thailand suffers from an overabundance of daylight and heat. In response, the double walls designed with air-gap insulation slice into the house, a design that catches the breeze and channels it through windows, skylights and carefully positioned openings. This creates effective cross-ventilation so that every part of the house is naturally illuminated yet shielded from the elements.