Thread: bricks blocks building.....whats it all about?

i get the picture 100%

so what ideas do you have for design so far?>

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

This is more like it 17th century terrace brick apartments.

those are early 19th century Ben, late Georgian

but why would you want to build anything like that in Thailand?

I can't even understand anyone building neo-Georgian houses in England!

very nice idea ben,need any more help just ask.

Dr.A - you are once again wrong though this might be my fault again, the 17th century building is the one with the zebra crossing!!!!!!!

The rest as you have spotted are Georgian, and i suppose your question can be answered simply enough.


but why would you want to build anything like that in Thailand?

I can't even understand anyone building neo-Georgian houses in England!

Ill take it in two parts

1) why would anyone want to build like this in thailand?

Ill open with a question myself why would anyone want to build the concrete monsters you see everywhere, why would everyone want to build concrete on a teak wood building why would anyone want to put a swimming pool on top of the building mixed with many styles into one..............to answer because they want to they like it and they can - i wouldnt argue with that!

2) I cant even understand anyone building neo-Georgian house in England!

This would be suggesting your wants and needs and design and styles are that of everyone else(now wouldnt that be boring- these sounds familiar) as i have made in the above comment you seem to do what you want without any cause for caring what others think and i will do what i want! This is not to everyones tastes but i am not trying to please someone else for the sake of it nor argue the point for the sake of it.

To be more discerning to your point i would say rather then have to build an ugly concrete facade if i have to build with concrete, i would rather create something that is functional geometric and with high ceilings that help with cooling. The aesthetic is simple yet elegant and should be able to be achieved at reasonable costs. I also think that it brings something different to the architecture of Thailand king rama 5 tried to recreate such buildings but in a rather gauche fashion not fully understanding the building. I think that Thai people will benefit from this and be pleased to have it or they will not care either way what difference would it make this is my building! The whole point of this is to find something that is not availible here, nor tangible at th moment for people to discover and look at and present it to them in a way that is as close to the original as possible(maybe they will be interested?). Though i dont think i can achieve this in the first project i hope i can at my young age repeat and get better and improve with similar projects and get it right somewhere along the line. i hope to be able to present more traditional buildings that intrigue and conjure the imagination of others as represented some 7000 miles away which is a long distance for some to travel. I am English i like English buildings, i also like teak Lanna buildings but thats for the retreat house somewhere up country. I like Moroccan architecture there is a current fashion for that at the moment i see. I like Japanese ryokan, i like timber post and beam tudor oak framed houses. I like old farm stone buildings water mills, windmills and kilns.

all of which i might make into houses at some point in the future because im kooky enough to do it, or maybe as some might say i have no concept of modern architecture design or aestetic, or as some others say an apprciation, who knows the answer?

so why because like i said in answer no 1 i can i like and so i shall do!

hope this helps

many thanks for the post so far

To add maybe because what i want hasnt been designed yet and im just posting other buildings that share resemblances to ideas i like.

splitlid - thank you for your repeated input and advice i will certainly take you up on your offer.

so where do we go from here......i suppose a story... if i said that the seller of the land that my wife brought, is not only filling the land but also building a wall to protect the government canal (because he has filled 2m + of soil high being worried about the farangs land getting flooded even though everyone elses land is 50 cms less then this at least). the price of this work is totaling half the price of the amount i brought for it, which he had discounted at half the price of the going rate as verified by asking the locals.....would anyone believe me (hang on need to take a breath)?

would you say that was a normal thing, i would say we were very lucky and my wife is an extremely good operator in getting discount.

now we are looking at another 100 tw and she has already got him down to 2/3rds the nominal asking price in this area. things can be positive when building in thailand!

I was astonished as people always make out how bad things are, maybe im lucky or my wife has good business sense. To say that something cant be done, to me sounds implausible maybe im riding a wave of denial but at this moment i feel good about the way things are shaping up!time to get whipped!?

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Dr.A - you are once again wrong

waddya mean "again"? cheeky bugger

I was misled by your titles, I assumed that you were referring to the building under, not above

as for Neo-georgian buildings, fuk em, they are ugly and totally pathetic, unlike the originals they try to copy but parody

I would have thought that modern buildings would use modern materials, and have some design relative to modern day living

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

why would anyone want to put a swimming pool on top of the building mixed with many styles into one..............

as for that snipe, wait until the building is finished before you criticise; maybe then you can see the complete building and don't have to crane over a fence

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

the imagination of others as represented some 7000 miles away which is a long distance for some to travel. I am English i like English buildings, i also like teak Lanna buildings but thats for the retreat house somewhere up country. I like Moroccan architecture there is a current fashion for that at the moment i see. I like Japanese ryokan, i like timber post and beam tudor oak framed houses. I like old farm stone buildings water mills, windmills and kilns.

yes, all those are attractive buildings from the past; why try to recreate them when you live in the present?

Dr.A - I have been ore struck by what you have created and shared in your posts whether you believe my sincerity is up to you.

As i said my titles were misleading and i apolgised.

Neo anything is generally regurgitated and rubbish. However i do want to create from foundation up the same method of building, or at least the closest match that depicts the real integrity of the building following to the key elements such as the geometry the details the materials and i believe i can do this best out of all such examples i like with the brick apartment of the city. However i also showed new york style interiors and this more industrial and modern style could lead to being the greater concentration with regards to interior /exterior (it definitely fits the interior look of more modern interior design magazines in Thailand- and so i guess the taste of the public).

If you read the comment it is not a snipe, it is in fact a compliment that was trying to make you see the error in which you attack my idea, which is that as i posted you like it you can and thats what you have done...later to say that this is your house and it is specific to your needs and design. I hope you can see that tis is the case?

As with regards to taking a peek its bloody massive i saw it from almost turning on to the soi, you may say small but i think your being modest! With regards to the finish i cant wait the Moroccan Chinese styles intrigue me greatly and this is what im interested in the most in seeing.

I live in the present and yet i appreciate and regard buildings from the past, i also like modern buildings butt older historical techniques interest me more. I have a sorrowful feeling about how many thai buildings of old are now left and unfortunately it seems less and less with the advent of concrete and the stupid price of hard wood. This is ever so more clear when you go to the massive building at chedi luang made of brick, absolutely breath taking.

I know there is not really a comparison as such but i hope to make traditional buildings of the past more important and better featured in the public eye whether it be english thai or other. If i had endless amounts of cash maybe a more faithful rebdition could be made but i dont so i will stick to this for now.

i hope that answers your questions

thank you again for taking to time to add interest and fire to this thread!

much appreciated to everyone so far!

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

As with regards to taking a peek its bloody massive i saw it from almost turning on to the soi, you may say small but i think your being modest! With regards to the finish i cant wait the Moroccan Chinese styles intrigue me greatly and this is what im interested in the most in seeing.

It does look big, but only because it is squeezed onto the plot, and the height of the floors is more than usual so that also gives it a presence.

BUT I think you may be disappointed in the interior. What drove the building design was Chinese courtyards and Arab houses (in that all you see is a wall and not much of the house). The interior will not reflect those designs directly (except the moongate).

In fact, until we have returned and sat in the building, we will not have not chosen any style. All white walls and empty rooms give you food for thought.

Essentially, it will stay white, the colour and interest created by art.

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Dr.A - I have been ore struck by what you have created and shared in your posts whether you believe my sincerity is up to you.

thanks for that, I am happy you are sincere

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

that was trying to make you see the error in which you attack my idea,

not attack, discuss! maybe put a different perspective. Whatever you build, I would hope that you can live in it happily and comfortably.

Brick is good, my house in London is an 18c brick cottage behind a beautiful row of contemporaneous brick town houses (similar to your pic)

Im happy with our discussion, its good to understand other's opinion critical or positive as they feed my understanding and will lead to the success in the building construction.

I probably wont ever see your interior so this isnt so much of a concern for me, white as a paint is very modern easy on the eye, it would be nice to see some middle eastern tile work though(upto you of course).

I understand your concerns with a trite or gauche look on what im trying to do, but it serves to explain why i have come to this.

It seemed as explained in the posts above most materials represented challenges hen building, for example;

Wood - This offers several problems mostly cost and termites, though it gives character to build even a small block of apartments would not be cost effective. This has led to me to maybe use this material as a highlight (floorbeams, joist beams accents of wood running trough the building but not structural and of course hardwood).

Earth - This was the one material i really wanted to undertake in building as the sculptural qualities lent themselves to more rounded artistic nuances in the building providing more interest. The idea was to use mass monolithic walls to reduce heat radiation, with the ability to create a heavy sloping green roof to cool and create a micro climate of cool fresh air. However seeing that this doesnt act well in high water laden areas and we are in a high humidity area as well, it gave me concern and gave me worries that no one has settled through intense reading. This was also the reason for not using strawbales as the strawbale is likely to break apart due to high relative humidity(more so over 80% in this region).

Steel - dont know too much about this but had been looking into xps boards that can be connected to steel(these offer high r values), the cost might be too high i am still waiting for someone to appropriate a cost. This could mean i could build in brick and hide the steel with wooden covering as they do with oak in timber framed buildings to encase the steel to a more traditional aesthetic, again expense could be uneconomical.


Brick - If i could i would build solely in brick employing a thick wall consisting of a cavity and insulation to stop heat radiation through the wall and improve the likelihood of moisture and heat build up. This also allows for load bearing walls(if regulations allowed and there was brick that was strong enough) to just be able to use brick reducing the cost and waste massively on concrete and other types of building. This look would be in line with high ceilings geometric design employing stack cross ventilation and traditional features such as rendered detail and windows that accent a more traditional building. It would also allow for a flat roof on top that i could create penthouse buildings of which sloped or curved greenroofs would be used to block out airplane noise, create a cooler environment in building and to give a more pleasing look to its position in the environment.

concrete - have no problem with concrete but feel it must be used in a way that vindicates the initial expense, such as ICF which helps insulate and cool, creates an easier building process thats allot quicker then post and beam and is solid.

Concrete cellular blocks - This also looks promising not least because it seems so cheap 35 badt per block, there is no need for post and beam as they are load bearing(building regs allowing). Hollow in the middle they are supported with rods that run cross and are filled with mortar to encase the rods for better strength(not sure on this point). They can be coloured and given a smooth or rough finish, they allow for a thin depth and should give some help to reducing heat radiation. However ideally a cavity with superbloc or cheaper same block as a 2nd wall should improve this greatly add to overall load bearing structure and make possible to infill with insulation like eps, xps.

Aerated concrete -superbloc also has the potential to be connected like brick and used without need for post and beam(as per superbloc thailands website) corners can be joined to make this possible. Again a cavity can be made with either brick, cellular or superbloc, to allow for greater strength and insulating properties ese blocks are easy to lay and quick to build with. Though a 2nd wall is an extra expense minus post and beam the mess the time taken to build and the greater benefit in reduced heat radiation should all transpire to be longer term benefits for slight extra costs if not similar prices.

Now this is my current thinking, it is im sure not right to any real means but is how i understand it to be. Although i am sure there are variations from these forms to my limited knowledge this is the most relevant for multiple storey apartments.

If anyone as anything to add, put me right on please feel free to comment

thank you once again for your advice and help on this matter

This is a diagram that i am using as a guide wit information that suggests a similarity to georgian apartments of old( maybe with some balcony modifications). I would love to get some plans out to you but tis would be very premature and so i will what i can do.
here is a clipbit;
Design tips for the hot humid climate

Because the humidity is high, air movement is crucial, to help perspiration to evaporate.

We need: -

• Windows opposite each other to allow cross-ventilation;
• Long, narrow floor-plan in sleeping zone, to maximise through ventilation in bedrooms;
• Open-plan living areas with high ceilings, to maximise air movement and reduce radiant heat to occupants

ok ben just for you,
http://www.tradelinkmedia.biz/portal/ControllerServlet?action=gallery

once you subscribe, you can download any of the magazines, theres even a mag on concrete.









enjoy









try not to blow ya stack over your screen though.

Originally Posted by splitlid

ok ben just for you,
http://www.tradelinkmedia.biz/portal/ControllerServlet?action=gallery

once you subscribe, you can download any of the magazines, theres even a mag on concrete.









enjoy









try not to blow ya stack over your screen though.

What else are magazines for?

Does this man make sense to anyone?

Cavity Wall Building System

He seems on edge.......

Originally Posted by benlovesnuk

Does this man make sense to anyone?

Cavity Wall Building System

He seems on edge.......

did anyone else not understand the first few paragraphs?
he just jumped straight in, i didnt have a clue what he was talking about until i saw the picture at the end.

thats a real find ben, well done.

just gone back to it and read some more, and really feel the guys off his fucking head.

definately on 'the edge' mate.