Thailand Landscape Architecture Awards 2015 - 137 Pillars House

The landscaping project by P Landscape Co. Ltd. for the boutique hotel called 137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has won an Excellence Award in the Design – Hospitality category of the 2015 Thailand Landscape Architecture Awards.



The landscaping design for 137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai won in the Design – Hospitality category of the competition organised by the Thai Association of Landscape Architects (TALA).





The architects from P Landscape Co. Ltd. were inspired by the special historical and natural worth of the site where the 19^th century house has been converted into a boutique hotel, on the banks of the Mae Ping river in Northern Thailand. 



The landscapers took extra care to create a narrative that takes guests back in time and allows them to interact with the landscape, with the project’s core being the large mature trees, important to preserve to create a visual story that alternates the existing nature and architecture with contemporary design solutions such as green walls. So, these living relics from the past were moved away from the building so they could still thrive while the structure was being revamped.





The house itself was raised on stilts to protect it from rising damp and to minimise its carbon footprint; it also allows to circulate under the building, providing comfortable interiors.
Even the use of timber and traditional building materials like “poon mak” (a cement-lime mix) in the new construction of buildings and landscape elements showcase the site’s history.



So, the landscape architects from P Landscape Co. Ltd. have created a landscape that draws its visual strength from the continuous interweave of past and present, and guests can stay in a unique environmental context whose revitalisation passes through this project.

(Christiane Bürklein)

Project: P Landscape Co. Ltd. 
Location: Chiangh Mai, Thailand
Year: 2014
Photography: Wison Thungtyna
Thailand Landscape Architecture Awards 2015 – Excellence Award Design Hospitality