Mitbury the Public House
architectural design
(in collaboration with Estudio)
2022-2024
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Photo: Prueksakun Kornudom
Located between the Mae Rim-Samoeng Road and the Mae Sa River, the project envisions a small café where customers can enjoy the natural surroundings. The aim is to keep the buildings as compact as necessary, prioritizing outdoor spaces under the shade of existing trees, avoiding any encroachment on the river, and preserving the original large trees. The site’s unique features include a low-lying valley significantly below road level, gently sloping down to the riverbank.
Given these conditions, the designers opted to place the entire structure near the roadside embankment, leaving gaps to preserve existing trees. The building is camouflaged with a breeze block wall, intended to act as both a boundary and a threshold to nature. From the higher road level, a bridge leads under a large rain tree, guiding visitors over the buildings towards views of the forest and river. At the end of the bridge, a long staircase descends into a hidden garden below, serving as the project's grand hall. This lower garden area is surrounded by streams, boulders, large trees, and the breeze block wall, which conceals the bathrooms, kitchen, and service areas. The small café extends from this wall, allowing visitors to order food and enjoy it in the garden.
The owner also wishes to incorporate antique collections, including archways, windows, and various furniture pieces. The designers integrated these antique elements into the breeze block wall, creating a connection between the front and back of the wall. An old movie ticket counter was repurposed as the café counter.
The project consists of three single-story buildings: the café and kitchen, a storage and staff quarters, and restrooms. The roofs are gently pitched gables, ensuring the buildings blend harmoniously with the existing trees. The breeze block wall is just high enough to screen the storage and restrooms and extend into the café to separate it from the kitchen. The bridge and staircase are designed with a light touch, featuring mesh railings. The architecture as a whole is designed to blend with nature, using brown and greenish-gray tones, and maintains simplicity to highlight the intricately carved wooden antique pieces. Inside the café, the same breeze block wall is used, paired with brown terracotta floor tiles and dim lighting from a chandelier accentuating the black antique ticket counter. The other three walls are clear glass doors, inviting natural light, ventilation, and views of the garden and stream.
In the garden, the project owner collaborated with Nong Nooch Garden to design the space. Stones unearthed during construction were repurposed as steps leading to the café, creating a seamless connection between nature and architecture. Additional plants were also added to create a unique atmosphere, making the garden the grand hall of the project.
