Originally, Soi Nana in Charoen Krung district is well known for herbal pharmacy area in Bangkok, Thailand. The area has recently become more appealing in newer aspect to Bangkokian since new galleries, bars, cafes, hotels have been emerged mixing between the existing (past) and additional (present) essences of culture, environment, architectural elements and soul. 4-story BAR & HOTEL, ‘Ba Hào’, is one of those new additional elements that has been integrated into this district. After removing existing storage room walls that prevents the space from the natural light and ventilation, the building’s structure, space and decoration appear to be beautiful already, despite the old-age and damage.
So main design approach is to preserve essence of this 70 years old building and develop additional elements to give right chemistry between old and new elements. For Chinese Bar on the 1st floor, the setting of the Bar & Kitchen is the most important issue that affects the whole space of this area. With Chinese influence of the district, the lighting and color tone of this space is mostly based in red color combining with wooden and marble furniture while blue terrazzo bar counter, booth seating and counter in the restroom helps balancing the overall mood.
On the 2nd floor present a shared living room while the 3rd and 4th floor have one room on each floor with their own character. With the same approach with interior design, façade of the building is designed to keep most of this existing building essence. All window size and proportion are referring to its neighbor while proportion of building façade is treated to look 3 stories tall. This idea is not just to make Ba Hào blend in with its neighbor but at the same time give respect to old history of this area.