The Wine Ayutthaya

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Situated on a bank of the Chao Phraya River in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, the Wine Ayutthaya is a new leisure place for wine drinkers. The building was constructed to become a tourist attraction in hopes of stimulating the economy of local communities surrounding this World Heritage site, which was the capital of Thailand 400 years ago. The building is a product of architectural creativity and environmental context molded into a magnet for tourists.

A single-story building blends in with existing large trees and carefully designed landscape. The building is 9 meters in height and 11 meters equally in width and length, and is made entirely from steel-reinforced plywood. The interior of the wine house is divided into four platforms, each with its own height that serves as a vantage point for visitors to absorb the beautiful view of the river from different angles, contrasting the interior spaces with the exterior. There are five sets of spiral stairs attached to each platform. The ground floor is occupied by a wine bar, and seats are placed between the staircases. The platforms and staircases are scenic viewpoints.

Local wooden houses are the inspiration behind this steel-reinforced plywood structure. The knock-down waffle structure system, which is visually light but structurally strong, is exposed through the design of floor, walls, and roof. The waffle walls serve as a light filter that helps cool down the interior atmosphere. Moreover, wine drinkers can enjoy another depth of experience through the mixture of scents of plywood and wine.

In this building, plywood, a material normally used for interior purposes as furniture or structure, is used as a building structure. This broadens the potential and transforms the perception of plywood from a temporary material to a permanent and extraordinary edifice.

All five spiral stairs have been designed not only to fit in limited spaces, but also serve as structural support. Furthermore, the space arouses a sense of abstract in visitors as the unfamiliar space makes a play on traditional scale with its structure and the amount of spiral stairs.

The building is protected from rain and humidity by coating plywood with resin and covering the building with 1 millimeter-thick PVC sheets. From the exterior, the undulating reflections of PVC sheets visually soften the building, and simultaneously expose the interior through its clearness.

The purpose of the Wine Ayutthaya is to overcome conceptual limitations and challenges of both material and scale in order to create an all-embracing architecture, and a work of art to revive the spirit of this once majestic ancient city.

This description has been lightly edited for clarity.