Tha Phae Gate is one of the renowned historic landmarks in Chiangmai, Thailand. The ancient access through the history of lengthy brick wall that protects the old city from the past. Single Origin Store project is to renovate the opposite abandoned house for the new branch of the local coffee shop. The project is not only to design the nowadays café but also recreate new edge between transformation of the old house and the old historic gate of the city.

Main priority of the project is to preserve the old building as much as possible, which there are some old architectural elements left for visitor to experience such as old timber structure holding mezzanine or old pond that was used for washing feet. The old timber pillar structures are kept as they were, which are turned into main counter bar that centralizing the whole café. Customers can circulate around the bar where is surrounded by shelves displaying products and souvenir, creating customer’s journey tracing through the architecture. 

Local materials are all used mostly for supporting local craftmanship to reflecting the brand ‘s aim, also a determination of the owner that wants to revive some outdated raw materials instead of replacing them with new industrialised materials. Rounded terracotta tiles are customized for the countertop, old traditional rattan panel is brought back for the seating partition to create some local pattern. For the shopfront, terracotta roof tiles are used as the muted façade that keeps the café grounded, mediating between the Tha Phae Gate and the surrounding as the new city’s urban fabric.

Team:

Architecture Design: FLAT12x
Interior Design: FLAT12x
Furniture Design: Superfurniture
Photography: Soopakorn Srisakul