萨拉城府酒店是洋葱工作室在泰国大城府完成的新作，该酒店是一座拥有26间客房的精品酒店，地处泰国湄南河风景最秀丽的位置。酒店面对1353年由大城府第一代国王下令修建的古迹沙旺寺。

Sala Ayutthaya is the twenty-six-room boutique hotel, right across a most picturesque site of the old capital of Thailand along the Chao Phraya River. Phutthai Sawan Temple was built in 1353 AD by the first monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom. It becomes the view of the restaurant and the riverfront suites at Sala.

↑ R-Deluxe River View  临河视线

主入口与曲墙院落 Main Entrance & Brick Wall Court

建筑临街部分主材是低调的红砖墙，进入主厅后，推开沉重的铁门，首先引入眼帘是的是曲面几何墙体围住的交通院落。高达墙面的极简几何造型在一天之中拥有丰富的光影，带给客人无穷无尽的光影体验。

↑ Main Entrance 主入口

↑ Brick Wall Court 铁门后的曲墙院落

The main entry of Sala is next to a Sala Tree on U-thong Road. It is a single iron door on a long brick facade, leading us to the low wooden ceiling reception and the double volume art gallery. Within this space, the dominant feature is an antique wooden door that Onion designs the framing for. It is placed between the transparent mirrors, opening to the exterior courtyard, narrowed by the paralleled brick walls of multi-curved geometries. They frame the image of the sky. What is unique about this main circulation is the constantly changing shadows. The curved shadows from the two sides normally meet on the floor at about eleven o’ clock in the morning. They transform the atmosphere of the space at different times of the day.

水院 Pool Court

曲墙院落联系酒店的系列院落和区域。人们要穿过墙，到达庭院进入客房。围绕白色庭院共布置了12套客房。中心连廊将庭院分成两个部分，一个是与外面曲墙庭院的红砖形成鲜明对比的白色泳池庭院，一个是种植这绿色树木的铺着红砖地面的花园。

The panoramic view of Chao Phraya River and Putthai Sawan Temple cannot be seen from the brick walls courtyard. It can only be experienced when we walk pass Sala Restaurant towards the riverfront deck. At this location, we see another facade of Sala, white walls of gable houses, the arrangement of step decks and terraces along the waterfront. Sala layout is a compound of twelve private residences, proportionately packed within the limited area of L-shape land, leaving the focal points of the project to be the outdoor spaces. They exhibit the local craftsmanship of brickworks, juxtaposed with the simplicity and neatness of the white walls and a solution to the problem of annual flooding, inspired by Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan, India.

↑ 中心连廊，上面摆放着休闲家具。连廊将庭院分成两个部分，一个是与外面曲墙庭院的红砖形成鲜明对比的白色泳池庭院，一个是种植这绿色树木的铺着红砖地面的花园。

铺着红砖地面的花园 Garden Court

餐厅 Dining & 沿河外观 Exterior

酒店的餐区位于临河的一侧，沿着河面铺设甲板，将用餐区由室内蔓延到室外。芳香葱郁的树木在未来为甲板提供浓荫。

At Sala Ayutthaya, the step decks are designed to be flooded. They lead us down from the one-storey high platform to the same level as the river. Four red-flower trees called jik are planted next to the main deck in order to signify the location of the outdoor bar. Along the narrowed river bank, Onion plants a row of tropical tree named krading-nangfa (its literal translation is the ‘angel’s bell’ tree). Their bell-shape flowers will eventually blossom. Their branches will suspend themselves down towards the river and form a long tunnel of fragrant tree. Sala Ayutthaya will be more complete with age.

套房  Suite

房间的设计简练但注重细节。黑色的虎跃木刻床头板寓意信念。每个房间都不一样，其中有三个房间与白色泳池庭院直接相连。最小的卧室拥有面河的私人露台以及隐藏的儿童沙发床。最宽敞的卧室没有河景，但是拥有一个私人的泳池。二层的客房则能鸟瞰庭院。每个房间都独一无二，能让客人感受到非凡独特体验。

The pattern of steps can also be explained as an architectural element of Ayutthaya architecture. The architects have borrowed a reduced size of a corner of the Phutthai Sawan Stupa, scaled and redesigned it to frame various objects at Sala. This includes the interior and the exterior walls, the vertical and the horizontal planes, the furniture and the pillow cases. Such a repetition marks the architects’ concern about what contemporary Thai is meant, in both functional and decorative senses.

Onion places much attentions on the construction details and interior designs. The bell-shape granite lamps are the main features at Sala Restaurant. They are custom-made by a local factory. The structural pattern of the hangers is based on the grid system, but the design looks dynamic because of the precise positions of the weights that change the pattern of electric cables, from a straight to a zig-zag pattern. The image of a tiger leaping forwards, meaning strength in Thai’s belief, is engraved upon the head of the wooden bed. The section of a Thai ornament called luk-mahuad is redesigned as parts of bathroom counters and beds. Sala Ayutthaya projects a character of the architects who are interested in form and customisation.

The privacy of Sala guests is secured through the circulation designs. The architects decide to use a single load corridor much less than a series of staircase that directly lead the clients to their own bedrooms. Each bedroom is always different from the other. There are at least three rooms that have the direct access to the step swimming pool made of white marbles. The most cozy one is a smaller bedroom that has its own private terrace and a hidden daybed for children. A more spacious room does not have the river view, but its longitudinal wall is facing the longitudinal side of the swimming pool. On the upper floor, the room above the gallery has the bird-eye-view of the brick walls courtyard. The bridge room has the bird-eye-view of the swimming pool and the garden courtyard. These special characters of each room make it exciting for the guests to revisit Sala.

Area : 3500 sq.m
Location : Ayutthaya Thailand
Year of completion : August 2014

Architect: Onion, Siriyot Chaiamnuay & Arisara Chaktranon
Interior Designer: Onion, Siriyot Chaiamnuay & Arisara Chaktranon
Text by M.L. Chittawadi Chitrabongs
Photograph by Wison Tungthunya