M House: Tree-Led Plan and Rooftop Pool in Bangkok’s Urban Center
M House sits in Bangkok, Thailand, designed by IDIN Architects as a compact home grown from an inherited garden. The client kept the site’s mature trees and asked for privacy from the street, steering a plan that bends around trunks and views. Linked by a first-floor terrace to the original family house, the new volume carves rooms between green pockets and tucks a pool on the roof for light and daily use.
Morning light drops between canopies and angled planes. From the street, the house keeps quiet behind tree crowns and a veil-like facade.
This is a compact house in Bangkok by IDIN Architects, organized around existing trees and a demand for privacy. The plan bends and steps to protect roots, catch green views, and mask everyday life from passersby. Climate and context steer choices, from massing and height to a sun-warmed pool that cools rooms below.
Turn Around Trees
Arrival traces the old garden’s edge, then slips into a volume that swerves to miss trunks and branches. Rooms land in the leftover corners, each aimed at a specific tree for depth and shade. Short hallways fade, replaced by direct connections that fold around a central stair foyer. Views are edited, not broad; every window treats a tree as anchor.
Shield The Street
The former car park entrance remains as a first screen, blocking the road’s direct sightline. Beyond it, vertical angled planes form a second layer that conceals mass and sculpts daylight. Top edges rise above the roof slab and double as the rooftop terrace railing. Openings sit where they count, framing foliage while keeping the interior concealed.
Link Old And New
A first-floor terrace ties the new house to the original family home, making daily movement simple. Living room, dining, pantry, and a powder room gather here, sharing a double-height volume that connects visually to the floor above. The stair lands in a compact foyer, from which the master bedroom, guest room, and a home office branch out. Circulation stays tight, so rooms can open to tree-lined edges.
Rooftop Pool, Real Work
With ground area tight, leisure moves up to the roof, where the pool sits among treetops. Full-day sun keeps the water pleasant for use and drives light across the terrace. The volume of water acts as a thermal buffer, tempering bedrooms beneath during the heat. It’s a small diagram, yet it carries both comfort and clarity.
Palette, Inside Out
Exterior planes take white textured paint cut with groove lines, catching shadow and softening bulk. Inside, wood tone warms the rooms and calms the edges (the contrast is deliberate). The two levels read together through the tall living volume, where light breaks across grain and plaster. Quiet materials keep focus on leaves, distance, and breeze.
Late afternoon, the facade glows while the garden cools. The house recedes behind canopies, content to look outward rather than announce itself. In that restraint, daily life finds shade, privacy, and a steady rhythm with the trees.
Photography by DOF Sky | Ground
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