ASWA designs curved façade of this bangkok office to resemble a 'black leather belt'

situated in the thai capital of bangkok, ASWA (architectural studio of work-aholic), has formed an office building for lee & son leather. amassing over 20 years experience in the industry in thailand, the client desired that their new headquarters be created to represent their well-known product – leather. with this in mind, the concept behind the project uses the material as a base for the architectural expression, resulting in a curved building that aims to resemble the bends of a ‘black leather belt.’

images courtesy of ASWA

ASWA‘s scheme comprises of 4 floors, covering a total of 21,528 ft2 (2,000 m2). an open car parking space occupies the first floor, making the rest of the building appear to be raised off the ground. supported by large structural columns, the remaining three levels are articulated by the black curved volumes which are stacked on top of one another in an irregular fashion. moving up the plan, the second floor functions as a leather showroom and office space. the third floor is divided between a storage area and a living unit with three bedrooms, then finally, the whole of the top floor is used as a large stock area.

the office of lee & son leather connects the black curved façade with the physicality of leather

embodying the concept of the project, the black façade is designed to conjure the image of the physical character of leather, that can be bent in curves but not folded absolutely. a small number of vertical openings puncture the elevations, giving way to recessed windows, bringing in an indirect light that doesn’t harm leather material. with such a determined vision of how the building should appear, the office of lee & son leather is a project with a strong conceptual idea that is realized, not as literal architecture, but as a subtle expression of the brand’s identity.

three black curves have been realized to resemble a black leather belt, that can be bent but not folded

the three volumes are stacked on top of each other

the volumes overlap at points 

the recessed window with rotatable façade and a filler edge intends to invite an indirect light that would not harm leather

a staircase leads customers to the sales and office area

space between the sales area and staircase

the office area

the display area which invites customer to choose their leather products

the interior gains indirect light to protect the leather products

project info:

project name: ‘office of lee & son leather’

project location: bangkok, thailand

architect: ASWA (architectural studio of work – aholic)

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom