A 30-year-old house in Bangkok has been transformed into a bright, open family home that combines modern design with traditional Thai architecture. The Reborn House project, designed by DARE Design Arena Research, shows how older homes can adapt to changing urban environments while keeping their original character and charm.
The house sits in a Bangkok suburb that has dramatically changed over the years. What used to be a quiet village neighborhood became a busy district when city planners built a new public road right through the area. This urban development brought new challenges for homeowners, including loss of privacy, security concerns, and disappearing green spaces that once made the area peaceful and attractive.
The original house reflected Thailand's early modern architectural style, featuring separate compartmentalized rooms, complex hip-style roofs, and beautiful wooden elements throughout the structure. However, the urban disruption around the property meant the house needed significant changes to remain livable and comfortable for the family. The homeowners wanted a fresh design that would create new spatial experiences and encourage more family interaction, while still preserving the house's original spirit and character.
The design team at DARE made a deliberate choice to preserve key existing elements that showed quality craftsmanship and aesthetic value. They kept the original roof structure, wooden staircase, parquet flooring, and distinctive curved wall features. Rather than trying to blend old and new elements seamlessly together, the architects created a visual contrast that allows different design periods to have a conversation with each other. They used a light-toned color palette throughout the space to highlight and elevate the existing features, celebrating them as sculptural art pieces within the refreshed modern setting.
The most dramatic change involved reimagining the formerly compartmentalized rooms into an open, light-filled space that brings the family together. The architects relocated a southwest-facing bedroom that was prone to overheating to the first floor, then removed that floor plate entirely. This bold move created a unified double-height space that allows family members to see and interact with each other across different levels of the house, while also revealing the previously hidden staircase as a striking sculptural centerpiece.
To improve comfort and livability, the design team introduced large openings throughout the house for better ventilation, natural light, and views of the garden areas. At the same time, they built solid walls on the southwest side to block intense heat from the sun and provide privacy from a new construction site that had appeared nearby. The entrance was redesigned with a stepped planter and terrace to resolve existing level changes and create a more welcoming arrival experience. Other bedrooms, service areas, and sanitary systems were kept in place to minimize construction costs and reduce waste.
The most striking feature of the renovation is the curved textile facade that wraps around portions of the house. The architects chose this textile material for its translucency, ease of installation, lightweight properties, affordability, and ability to resist Bangkok's challenging weather conditions. During the day, these textile walls gently diffuse daylight and cast soft, attractive shadows while providing privacy for the family. At night, the effect reverses dramatically as interior lighting causes the textile facades to glow softly, giving the house a distinctive and beautiful presence in the neighborhood.
The facade design also includes a combination of solid wall fencing and white aluminum louvers that provide necessary privacy and security while still allowing for visibility and friendly interaction with neighbors. The architects drew inspiration from existing curved elements found throughout the village, using this curvature in both the facades and fences to connect the house to its surrounding context through a contemporary architectural language that feels both modern and contextually appropriate.
Recognizing that urban development had reduced the area's greenery, the design team made maximizing green space a priority. They preserved an existing garden and mature trees on the northeast side of the property, introduced new plantings around the house, and created a dedicated green pocket along the sculpted fence. This green space provides visual and ecological benefits that the family can share with their neighbors, helping to restore some of the natural beauty that urban development had diminished.
The architects also removed the front lower roof to expand the entrance area, transforming it into a more open and welcoming space for visitors and family members. In a creative move, they repurposed the existing beams from the second floor as planters, creating opportunities for vertical greening that adds natural beauty throughout the house. All images documenting the transformation were captured by photographer Rungkit Charoenwat.
The completed Reborn House represents a thoughtful approach to residential renovation that addresses modern urban challenges while respecting architectural heritage. The project demonstrates how contemporary design can create a sensitive dialogue between memory and modernity, fostering family interaction through open and connected spaces while maintaining harmony with neighboring houses and the broader village context.
