Somdul Agroforestry Home

“Grow what you eat, eat what you grow”
When nature resources and local wisdom are part of our lives, we should understand and cherish them more. This is the main goal of the project. Make it “Somdul” (Balance).
Somdul Agroforestry Home, Samut Songkhram Province, is a café and agroforestry learning center on 15 Rais (24,000 sq.m.) area.

“River – Forest – Locality – People – Simple”
It was originally an abandoned garden house. The project owner has an idea to develop this area to be a café and agroforestry learning center based on existing factors in the site. The house aims to live healthily and balancedly. Living in-between city life and nature, organic agroforestry farm conveys in terms of services, food, beverages, bakery, and processed products making on-site. Learning through the participated education in various workshops and activities gives the visitors the feeling called “Sustainable happiness”.

Design approach
1. Turning concrete road to the “Floating wood terrace” providing an ecosystem linkage underneath. It was inspired by a Thai wood terrace used as a gathering space in a Thai traditional house. There are many problem solutions in the wisdom, Floating wood terrace is safe from the ground insects and animals, flood and provide good drainage.
2. Turning the view of the Mae Klong River back to the sight where people can appreciate the scene and way of life along the riverside again. The design allows people to get closer to the water and realizes the relationship between humans and water which has been from the past. While people nowadays start abandoning the river. The design aims to bring that relationship back again.
3. Turning an abandoned area into people’s usable area, the design aims to bring the people out from the concrete land (city center) to nature by increasing the potential of the areas extending the existing elements to be relaxing and learning areas related with the context suitability. The learning area of the forest (from the existing teak trees found on-site), café, agricultural learning areas, and workshop activities are designed connectively by the floating terrace.
4. Turning the ordinary planting concept, plant only fast-growing species, into another
sustainable concept. We plant saplings mixed with mature size of new trees. Food production plants, herbs, and animal habitat trees are planted naturally to promote the concept of “Farm to table” by focusing on growing local products for eating. Then the people can realize the importance of food production and learn how to make it sustainable and secure on-site.

“Landscape is not only decorative but productive and energy saving also”
5. Turning back to the simple way to solve the problems, live and maintain the spaces, The simple floating terrace which is easy on construction, provides another good view from raised levels, protects the material from ground moist is designed with the aims to create other experiences and bring the people inside joyfully.

“We don’t design the landscape but we design the life living with the landscape”