Skip to content
Boonlert Hemvijitraphan's Blind House emerges from its verdant setting as a masterful study in horizontal stratification and material dialogue, where warm oxidized corten steel volumes appear to…

Blind House by Boonlert Hemvijitraphan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Golden A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Competition Category.


GoldArchitecture· 2021

Blind House

by Boonlert Hemvijitraphan

Client: Boondesign

Golden A' Design Award Winner in Architecture Category

27,859

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #122851

Colors

The Design

About Blind House

Blind is a private house in Bangkok, Thailand, designed as a quiet sanctuary for living and for the practice of meditation. The glazed ground floor holds an open plan living and dining area set between a reflective pond and a sculptural hill. The hill, inspired by origami, covers a sunken garage and a shrine. A long concrete plane rests on the transparent facade, so the upper floor appears to float above the landscape. The upper level is clad in a steel lattice that offers privacy and filters sunlight into the two bedrooms.

The Recognition

About the Golden A' Design Award

Blind House is a Golden A' Design Award winner, an immensely prestigious recognition granted to first-rate, marvelous, and outstanding designs. Golden winners are exceedingly innovative, visionary, and glamorously dazzling creations that reflect the prodigy, wisdom, and prowess of their designers. Blind House is expected to be a highly praised, trendsetting, and monumental invention that delivers unprecedented value. This Golden A' Design Award-winning design is a spectacular, respected project that highly benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Blind House creates intense feelings of desire, evokes passion, encourages creativity, and fascinates us.

Where to Get It

Sanctuary Architecture Design Services

We create sanctuary spaces that harmonize modern living with contemplative tranquility. Our architectural practice specializes in residential designs that balance transparency, privacy, and connection to nature through innovative materials and thoughtful spatial experiences.

Discuss Your Project

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
The urban sanctuary in the middle of Bangkok features a glazed ground floor enclosing the main living areas. An origami-inspired sculptural hill makes room for a sunken garage and shrine while its row of hedges conceals the upper level from view. Resting on the transparent facade, a concrete plane supporting the second story creates the illusions of a mass floating above the landscape. The upper level is clad in a rusted metal lattice to offer privacy but still filters in sunlight
Dimensions & Packaging
Area: 350 Sq.m.
Tags
Architecture, Landscape, Private residence, Rusted steel, Concrete wall, Reflective pond, Origami hill
Production Technology
Platina steel, Tempered glass door and window with customized aluminium frame, Laminated wood panel, concealed motorised mosquito net, granite stone, Platina steel lattice
Design Challenge
To levitate the 31meters long concrete slab, glazed façade is applied on the ground floor. In similar fashion with modern architecture, the lean steel column was placed behind a continuous strip of glass, as well as, the turn up beam, which strengthened the concrete slab, is setting back from edges creating an illusion of floating concrete plane from all views. To complete the sense of hovering, The slab protrudes out of the steel column over 13 meters. With the help of the concrete tunnel bearing wall, this notion of floating is achievable.
The contour of Origami hill was created according to the car shape in order to function as a carport on the other side, in other words, the absent matter (the carport) defines what is presence (the hill). The hill structure is very challenging for the engineer. The structure needs to withstand the carport span while carrying sufficient soil for the lawn.
Research
The Blind house was built to be a sanctuary for the owner to live and practice meditation. The house is required to perform a simple function such as open plan dining-living , two- bedrooms, and space for meditation. The challenge was the seamless experience of space; The presence of architecture articulates the space or its absence to bring the notion of the absent matter.
Inspiration
The urban sanctuary in the middle of Bangkok features a glazed ground floor enclosing the main living areas. An origami-inspired sculptural hill makes room for a sunken garage and shrine while its row of hedges conceals the upper level from view. Resting on the transparent facade, a concrete plane supporting the second story creates the illusions of a mass floating above the landscape. The upper level is clad in a platina metal lattice to offer a sense of privacy but still filters in the sunlight. With an interior that is sleek, minimal, and lined in natural materials, the dwelling creates a relaxing space for Zen living and practicing meditation in the city.
Project Duration
Project Completed: 2013
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Operation Flow
Enter the Arrival court, an empty space paved with cobblestone, which leads to the porch. The open plan living area on ground level, sits between a reflective pond on one side and a hill on the other. Walk up to the second floor into the bedroom, the sense of bright and open is replaced by a dimness of a platina steel lattice. Out by the side door of the bedroom, onto a concrete roof slab, where the walking meditation path begins and continues through the hill back to the ground floor.
Team Members
Boondesign Team
Image Credits
Image#1:Photographer Wison Tungthunya, WWorkspace, 2013.
Image#2:Photographer Wison Tungthunya, WWorkspace, 2013.
Image#3:Photographer Wison Tungthunya, WWorkspace, 2013.
Image#4:Photographer Wison Tungthunya, WWorkspace, 2013.
Image#5:Photographer Wison Tungthunya, WWorkspace, 2013.

Sponsored

Explore Beyond Designers.org

Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

The A' Design Award is an international, juried accolade for good design. Take part in the A' Design Award to get an opportunity to earn meritocratic recognition, gain fame, prestige and publicity for your work. Nominate your work for the A' Design Award and compete for the coveted A' Design Prize.

Nominate