The Hotel Sala Ayutthaya is made up of contrasts: white-painted gabled houses are set against a regional building technique with handmade bricks.

The charm of this hotel lies in the contrast between white gabled houses and walls made of handmade bricks in the regional building tradition. It was all down to the skill of the craftsmen.

It usually doesn’t bode well when offices give themselves funny names. Would you get your hair cut at “Hair Gott” or buy meat at the “SauGut” butcher’s shop? Exactly. So what does an architecture firm called “Onion” want to tell us? Is it familiar with layering, with skins made of wood, glass, steel or concrete? Or does it deliver the landscape planning free of charge with the building construction? That’s enough to make you cry… and that’s exactly what it is: a vegetable name, as the two young Thai architects Siriyot Chaiamnuay and Arisara Chaktranon write on their website, is unusual and unforgettable and therefore, as they build, unique and memorable. That sounds self-confident, and it is all the better that Onion in the city of Ayutthaya, 70 kilometers north of Bangkok, once the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, surrounded by three rivers and in parts a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has actually been able to live up to its own standards of architecture.

In 2014, the Bangkok-based office built and furnished the “Sala Ayutthaya” boutique hotel there. However, the hotel is not very inviting to the arriving guest at first: an iron door leads through a closed brick wall, on which only the hotel’s lettering can be read. 26 rooms are hidden behind the wall: a narrow corridor leads between high, curved brick walls into the depths of the L-shaped building. The brick waves bump sharply against each other, an artistic wallpaper made of baked clay, which – as can be seen from the side openings – seems to peel away from its white background. Our gaze wanders upwards in amazement from the brick canyon into the curved section of sky, which conjures up different shadows on the walls and completely shades the corridor with its equally brick floor at around eleven o’clock in the morning. And as if the senses weren’t already sufficiently stimulated by what is probably the most spectacular hotel corridor in the world, a magnificent view awaits at the end of the path: the view across the Chao Phraya River to the temple complex “Phutthaisawan”, built in 1353, from the terrace of the partially open restaurant.

With a view like this, the rooms hardly need to offer anything. But of course they do: while the materials – screed on the floor, wood for the sparse furniture and white fabric for the privacy screen – are pleasantly restrained, the circular bathtub is given a prominent place. If you don’t like that, you can take a dip in the glistening white marble pool in the inner courtyard instead. Or, even better, take a boat trip on the Chao Phraya. Because the change of perspective from the river actually opens up a completely different view of the hotel: instead of being made of red brick, it appears from the water side as an ensemble of white plastered gabled houses. Unforgettable, unique. And (almost) beautiful to cry about!

Address

Sala Ayutthaya
9/2 Moo 4
U-Thong Road
Pratu Chai
Phra Nakhon Si
Ayutthaya
13000 Thailand
www.salaayutthaya.com

Bochum-based architecture firm soan architekten has renovated the sandstone-colored “Old Church” in Bochum-Wattenscheid and added an extension. While the floor of the historic building was newly laid with slabs of regional Ruhr sandstone, dark Armenian basalt adorns the property wall as well as the façade and floor of the new building. As if on a small island, slightly elevated and […]

Bochum-based architecture firm soan architekten has renovated the sandstone-colored “Old Church” in Bochum-Wattenscheid and added an extension. While the floor of the historic building was relaid with slabs of regional Ruhr sandstone, dark Armenian basalt adorns the property wall as well as the façade and floor of the new building.

As if on a small island, slightly elevated and surrounded by a long property wall, stands the simple listed Old Evangelical Church in Bochum’s Wattenscheid district. Since last year, a modern anthracite-colored extension, designed by Bochum-based architects soan architekten, has complemented the historic building. The small, high-contrast ensemble serves as a community center for the faithful.

The single-storey extension with its dark façade made of solid basalt stones contrasts beautifully with the small “old church” with its light-colored outer shell made of hammered Ruhr sandstone. Designed in an L-shape, the new building seems to wrap around the historic building like an arm. The simple, light-flooded hall of the “Old Church” was given new floor slabs made of regional Ruhr sandstone as part of the construction work. Some stone elements that were still in fairly good condition were sorted out and laid again with great care like a puzzle around the altar area. The remaining floor area was fitted with new slabs. The Ruhr sandstone used for this was supplied by the Grandi quarry from Herdecke, while all the natural stone work for the project was carried out by Hanser + Pfafferott from Kaarst.

Like the large anthracite-colored name plaques on the “Square of the European Promise” in Bochum, the basalt for the new community center also comes from Armenia. However, it is not only the cladding of the façade that is made of Armenian basalt, but also the floor slabs used – both inside the extension and outside. The original property wall from the 19th century had become structurally unstable and had to be demolished. The existing image of the idyllic church, enthroned as if on a small pedestal, was to be retained.

The sporadic efflorescence, which can currently be seen mainly on the property wall and which somewhat spoil the idyllic view, is caused by water-soluble salts from the mortar. However, they are washed off by the rain over time, otherwise they can simply be brushed off. One minor drawback is the three different shades of cinder blocks laid to the left of the entrance. Overall, however, despite a few minor details, the result is a harmonious, beautiful ensemble that comes to life thanks to its contrasting yet restrained design.

Find out more about the renovation of the “Old Church” in Bochum in STEIN in November 2016.