IDIN Architects design Harudot, a visually appealing café in the Thai city of Chonburi.

A collaboration between the owner and Nana Coffee Roaster, this café in the coastal town of Chonburi, Thailand, designed by IDIN Architects, is a clever fusion of architecture, nature and culture. It is sure to become a must-see for lovers of coffee and architecture.

The project aims to create a destination with a unique experience capable of attracting visitors and showcasing the owner’s identity. To this end, the architect has focused on the concepts of birth and growth, giving symbolic prominence to the trees, especially a large baobab tree planted in the interior which emerges towards the sky, making its way through the structure of the building.

Influenced by Japanese culture, the design develops three simple black gable forms on the exterior with a humble yet sophisticated aesthetic. The gable roofs are split at some points creating gaps that allow sunlight and rain to enter, giving a sense of movement to the structure. These gaps are covered with Barrisol tensioned ceilings that help to diffuse light into the interior, creating a warm and softly lit space while maintaining a strong connection with the natural surroundings.

Inside, visitors are guided through several warm and welcoming spaces, with pine wood walls that transform and curve creating a dynamic visual connection between nature and architecture and with surprising details at every turn, such as fountains or personalised signs, quotes embedded in the terrazzo floor that lead visitors to the different areas of the café or flower petal patterns, creating a whimsical connection with the outside world.

The building is separated into smaller areas to create a more human scale, with different spaces such as the bar, coffee area, lounge, meeting room and toilets.

The interior seating arrangement, which resembles a continuous ribbon, enhances the flow inside the café. The outer seats are made of resin mixed with coffee grounds, rice and leaves, a further detail of the café’s identity.

Project: Harudot Chonburi.
Location: Chonburi (Thailand).
Completed: June 2023.
Floor area: 475.
Owner: Nana Coffee Roasters.
Architecture and Interior Design: IDIN Architects.
Landscaping: Youkubdin.
Builder: Wimutti Construction Limited Partnership.
Photography: DOF Sky | Ground.

IDIN Architects

IDIN Architects was founded in 2004 and is an acronym for Integrating Design Into Nature. This architecture studio perceives nature as the ecological environment, the urban context and the personality of the users. Its design philosophy and the focus of its projects is concentrated on fusing this sense of the environment, of natures, with architectural aesthetics. This fusion is achieved through a process of analysing and prioritising the different needs and requirements of each project. As well as being an acronym, the Thai word idin is used to describe the natural phenomenon of the ground releasing a beautiful scent after rain. It symbolises Thailand’s tropical climate, something that all IDIN designs aim for. The emphasis of their activity is placed not only on aesthetics, but also on the practical, in order to adapt to this temperate environment.

IDIN architects made a name for themselves in the field of Thai architecture when the Phuket Gateway project won the ASA architectural design award in 2010. Since then, many of the architecture studio’s projects have been continuously recognised with numerous national and international awards, for example ASA Architectural Design Awards in Thailand in 2016 and 2020, The Plan Award in 2020 and 2021, Architizer A+ Awards in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, American Architecture Prize in 2017, Arcasia Awards for Architecture in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021, 2A Asia Architecture Award in 2017, Design for Asia Awards 2020 and 2021, German Design Award in 2018, GOOD Design Award 2021, and The Prix Versailles South Asia and the Pacific 2020 by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects.

Jeravej Hongsakul, founder of IDIN Architects, graduated in Architecture from the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in 1998 and has been working in the field of architecture since 2000.

Source: IDIN architects.

Project by IDIN Architects