Have you ever seen a house that appears to hover above the landscape like a modern treehouse? The BAAN O+O floating courtyard house in Khao Yai achieves exactly this effect, and it’s fascinating how Jun Sekino pulled this off. This small family vacation home sits within the lush natural landscape of Khao Yai, demonstrating how contemporary steel frame architecture can work with existing topography instead of bulldozing everything flat. What’s remarkable is how the house literally floats above sloped terrain, using a sophisticated steel framework to minimize environmental impact while maximizing that incredible connection to nature. Instead of significantly altering the landscape, Jun Sekino chose an elevated approach that creates the visual impression of a house gracefully hovering above the land. The result is a design that makes you rethink what’s possible when architects truly respect their sites.
Designer: Jun Sekino
Cantilever Design Creates Dramatic Horizontal Emphasis
The most striking feature in these exterior shots is the bold cantilever extending the upper living level about 15 feet beyond its supports. It’s architectural drama that actually serves a purpose.
The overhanging roof features a flat profile with clean, precise edges that create strong shadow lines against the sky. These horizontal planes contrast beautifully with the vertical black steel columns supporting the structure at regular intervals. Looking at the photographs, the structural bay spacing appears to be roughly 20 feet, creating a rhythmic pattern that gives the house its architectural order. What’s brilliant about this cantilever is that it’s not just showing off, it serves multiple practical purposes that make the house livable in Thailand’s intense tropical climate. The precision required to achieve this visual lightness while maintaining structural integrity demonstrates Jun Sekino’s technical expertise.
Smart design thinking becomes obvious when you realize how this cantilever creates substantial covered outdoor spaces beneath the main living areas. These protected zones work like outdoor rooms that extend the interior living space while providing weather protection. Jun Sekino clearly understood that in Thailand’s tropical climate, these shaded outdoor areas become essential for comfortable year-round living.
At night, something remarkable happens as this cantilever transforms into a glowing horizontal plane that appears to float above the landscape. The underside lighting emphasizes the structure’s defiance of gravity while creating a warm beacon visible from multiple viewpoints across the site. This lighting strategy turns the architectural gesture into a landmark that works both day and night. What’s particularly clever is how the illumination highlights the precision of the steel framework, making the structural system visible and celebrated rather than hidden. The interplay between artificial light and natural darkness creates a dramatic effect that completely changes the house’s character after sunset.
Engineering these dramatic overhangs demonstrates Jun Sekino’s commitment to pushing structural boundaries. Those steel beams must be precisely sized and positioned to carry the loads while maintaining the visual lightness that defines the project.
Glass Walls and Central Courtyard Create Seamless Interior Flow
What’s immediately striking about these floor-to-ceiling glass walls is how they create an almost complete dissolution of boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. These expansive glazed surfaces run continuously around the perimeter of the upper level, interrupted only by the black steel structural columns that frame each panel. The glass system uses minimal frames, allowing maximum transparency and unobstructed views of the surrounding forest.
The main living area features a low-profile leather sectional positioned to take advantage of the panoramic views through the glass walls. The furniture placement suggests Jun Sekino intended these spaces to function as viewing platforms for experiencing the changing landscape throughout the day. What’s impressive is how the kitchen area demonstrates these glass walls work in service spaces as well as primary living areas, with continuous glazing ensuring that even cooking maintains visual connection to the landscape. This transparency creates the sensation of living within the forest canopy rather than simply looking at it from inside a conventional house.
The glass system also reveals the honest expression of steel structure throughout the interior. Rather than hiding structural elements, Jun Sekino celebrated the black steel framework as an integral part of the architectural vocabulary. The columns create a rhythmic pattern that frames specific views while providing clear structural logic that occupants can understand and appreciate.
Here’s where the design gets really interesting as the central courtyard serves as the organizational heart of the house, creating a double-height space that brings natural light deep into the plan while providing a focal point for circulation. What’s remarkable is how the courtyard features a mature tree that appears to have been preserved from the original site, showing Jun Sekino’s commitment to working with existing natural features rather than removing them. Glass walls define the courtyard space on all sides, creating the unique sensation of being simultaneously inside and outside. The timber decking surrounding the tree creates a warm material contrast to the harder surfaces of concrete and steel found elsewhere in the house. This material transition helps define the courtyard as a special space within the overall composition.
Studying these photos reveals how spaces flow around the courtyard in a logical circulation pattern, with living areas, kitchen, and other functions arranged around the perimeter. This open-to-sky design creates natural ventilation through what architects call “stack effect” where hot air rises and escapes through the top while cooler air enters at the lower levels.
The courtyard functions as a light well that changes character throughout the day, with the tree’s canopy creating shifting patterns of light and shadow that add visual interest to the interior spaces. Looking at these courtyard photographs, you can see the vertical relationship between upper and lower levels, with the double-height space creating a sense of grandeur while the preserved tree provides a natural focal point that draws the eye upward. This vertical connection adds spatial complexity to what might otherwise be a simple rectangular plan, working in harmony with the perimeter glass walls to create a truly integrated interior environment. Essentially, the courtyard becomes a living sundial that marks the passage of time through changing light conditions.
Material Palette Balances Industrial and Natural Elements
What strikes you most about this material palette is how it demonstrates a careful balance between industrial precision and natural warmth. The approach feels both sophisticated and approachable, creating spaces that work for both relaxation and entertaining.
The concrete elements appear in both raw and finished forms, with some surfaces showing the texture of board-formed concrete while others receive smooth, refined finishes. The concrete’s neutral gray color provides a calm backdrop that allows the steel structure and natural materials to take center stage. Here’s something clever about concrete that many people don’t realize: its thermal mass helps moderate interior temperatures throughout the day, providing natural climate control that reduces reliance on air conditioning. This passive environmental control aligns with the house’s overall sustainability strategy. Jun Sekino used concrete selectively, ensuring it contributes to both structural performance and aesthetic coherence without overwhelming the composition.
Timber appears selectively throughout the interior, most notably in the kitchen cabinetry and courtyard decking. What’s appealing is how this wood species appears to be a warm-toned hardwood that complements the neutral palette while adding natural texture and warmth. The timber grain patterns provide visual relief from the harder edges of steel and concrete while contributing to the house’s connection to its forest setting.
Something particularly thoughtful about this design is how the leather furniture in the living areas adds another layer of natural material that will age beautifully over time. The cognac-colored leather creates a warm contrast to the cooler tones of the architectural materials while providing comfortable seating that invites relaxation and contemplation of the surrounding landscape. This furniture choice shows how material selection can support both aesthetic and functional goals while maintaining the house’s connection to natural processes and aging. What’s beautiful is how the patina that develops on leather over time will add character to the interior spaces, creating a living record of the house’s use and occupation. The material’s ability to improve with age mirrors the house’s relationship with its natural setting, where both structure and landscape will evolve together over time.
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