This canal-side house located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, was designed in 2014 by Ekar Architects.

Description by Ekar Architects
A narrow strip of land next to a canal amongst a stand of large trees
?Baan Rim Kao? is a family home where the owner wished to open a coffee shop and a music school within the same property. The site is located next to a fifteen meters wide Mae-Kao canal, (the sub-canal from Mae-Ping river of Chiang Mai, Thailand) with more than ten large trees on the site. Inspired by the surrounding trees and water, the architect believed that there should be a unique way to reach the house. As such a typical front door to the living areas was replaced by a garden-room that leads its inhabitants to various spaces in the house. The architect arranged the house into two volumes to avoid the existing large trees. By considering the garden and existing trees as the main focus, the central garden room becomes the crossing garden. The long, narrow entry path instantly opens up and leads one to the canal at the rear of the property from the moment they step into the house. This play creates a direct impact on the visual connection from one end of the property through to the canal.
By converting a garden into the main crossing garden/courtyard that replaces the conventional way of entering a house, this place becomes the starting point before diverting to other rooms.
The coffee shop is placed at the front of the property to be easily accessible to vi...