Designed for a young, Thai entrepreneur, this renovation is just steps away from our first project in Bangkok.

Although the footprint and original, unfinished interior of each Townhouse was the same, the client for this renovation requested additional programmatic requirements and a more youthful, spirited concept and materials palette.

We proposed a handful of fixture upgrades, a few alterations to the walls and several custom-designed storage and furniture components to create a bold, progressive-looking home featuring modern lines punctuated by confident colors and natural materials with metal accents and subtle, Asian motifs.

Project team: Richard Lucas, Lydia Kiehborth

The Ground Floor features an open Living Room, Dining area and Kitchen with a re-modeled Half-Bath set behind a wall of custom cabinetry that accommodates a flat-screen television and other media equipment, open display shelving, a large storage closet for sports gear, coats and shoes, and an array of smaller cabinets for storing other household goods.

Opposite the media-cabinet/storage wall and Kitchen lies a distinctive 9 meter long sofa/dining/storage bench, a custom-designed Dining table and a back-lit mirror running the length of the Ground Floor space.

Newly furnished with a full line of Western appliances, the indoor-outdoor Kitchen was expanded and re-configured with new custom-fabricated floor-to-ceiling cabinets, including a new island counter and bar equipped with a wine refrigerator.

Custom, white-lacquer and white-Oak veneer cabinets with Solid Surfacing and Quartz countertops, back-painted glass backsplashes and stainless steel hardware and accessories are complemented by fabrics and finishes in bright blue, turquoise, and deep indigo with grey and silver accents.

In addition to the backlit mirror and natural light flooding the space from the extra wide sliding glass doors at the front and rear of the Townhouse, other improvements included dimmable pendant lights over the Dining table and Living Room that complement the materials and overall design concept of the project.

A relatively small service courtyard behind the Townhouse was converted into a miniature rock garden using a combination of pebbles, field stones, tile pavers and lava rock. A concrete and stucco partition at the rear of the property is covered with a screen wall composed of painted, poly-vinyl slats, while the water tank and other utility equipment are concealed with frosted, poly-carbonate panels set within an aluminum frame conceived to imitate a Japanese Shoji-screen but constructed to withstand the harsh rainstorms and intense winds that are prevalent in Bangkok.

The Second-Floor en suite Bedroom, outfitted with over 7 meters of custom millwork, continues the modern theme and spirit of the Ground Floor with vibrant colors, clean lines and natural materials.

The full-size platform bed features drawers underneath, a wall-to-wall counter behind it for display, and more storage drawers below.

Sliding, back-painted glass panels at the headboard wall conceal a flat-screen television and other media equipment on one side with shelving for books and magazines on the other.

Opposite the bed, a full-height, full-width wall unit of custom cabinets provides a variety of storage options with a combination of drawers and closet-height sections for folded and hanging clothes, as well as compartments above for travel gear, extra linens and miscellaneous storage.

Also concealed in the wall unit is a small drop-down desk and charging station, a tower fan on a pull-out shelf and a wall-mounted A/C unit to keep cool on those hot, Bangkok nights!

Full height, wall-to-wall curtains in a lustrous Thai silk line the one exterior window wall of the Bedroom.

Along the perimeter, lit from above and recessed into the new wood flooring underneath the cabinets, is a pebble border, echoing the organic, textural character of the rock garden behind the Townhouse on the Ground Floor.

Overall, the cabinets, pebble border and curtain wall visually expand the proportions of the room while enhancing its modern character, but without compromising its intimate scale.

The overall project owes a great deal of its success to the client's eagerness to participate and be involved throughout the entire design and construction process. Strategic planning in advance also helped, as many design concepts were discussed and determined prior to construction, enabling several finishes, fixtures and appliances to be sourced, ordered and delivered from local suppliers and showrooms.

During construction, an almost daily review of progress was managed long distance between the client and his family, contractors and craftsmen, and our team in New York. E-mails, telephone calls, "face-time" teleconferencing and on-site visits with hands-on supervision and guidance guaranteed that the design concepts and details were executed as originally planned.