Bangkok-based architecture and interior design practice PHTAA Living Design has designed a wedding venue that features sculptured columns and artistic details in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Named Found Wedding Venue, the 4,500-square-metre building combines circular and rectangular volumes and a huge column elaborated with sculpted ceiling detail in front of the building. 

To create these details, the studio uses leftover columns sourced from Nothasin, an old concrete stucco shop in Bangkok and reinterprets these classical columns, capitals and cornices for this wedding venue. 

The design team fill the shop’s backyard with leftover columns and capitals by using many styles. While some of the columns had been sculptured to curl around others, in another corner, to show what could be ordered, cornices were mounted together on a wall in a way that made them look like an art piece.

The space is designed to make a continues flow from one volume to another. While the main wedding hall is placed in the lager volume, inner court, bouquet toss area, a gallery of bride and groom, a reception and a welcome foyer are situated in entrance volumes. 

For the main material, the architects use stucco, a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water, is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. 

The studio highly benefitted from the existing properties of stucco to shape the ceiling with these artistic details. 

"It originated in ancient times with Greek and Roman culture and its popularity has remained as ‘classical style’ until recently," said PHTAA Living Design. 

"Unfortunately, often it is used inappropriately, either in the wrong context (for example to show wealth) or wrong scale (for example in domestic architecture), so has become less popular due to these associations." 

The architects were interested in introducing stucco in a new and different way, by introducing different patterns in a style the studio calls "Authentic Fake".

The design of space in the wedding venue is sequenced and separated according to the flow of guests from arrival to seating in the main hall. 

After the drop-off sculpture, there are three nodes where guests stop: a photo gallery, a guest registry desk with a sign-in book, and a space where guests can be photographed with the bride and groom. 

Distances between nodes are longer or shorter depending on the time spent at each node to control the movement of people. The drop-off sculpture is made by carving out space from a cluster of columns, while the nodes use columns next to each other to create circular walls. 

An area of “garden of columns”, which is another interesting area that attracts guests' attention, was created with columns made of five types of capitals stacked on top of each other and then arranged in a grid. 

This area is created specifically for guests to explore and take photographs. A multi-purpose courtyard is placed between the garden of columns and the sequenced nodes, which also contains the staircase and balcony for the bride to throw the bouquet after the wedding. 

The main hall, with two stages for wedding and engagement ceremonies, has a capacity to hold 260 guests. Again, columns are lined up side by side to create a textured interior wall of the hall. 

Functional support rooms, such as bride and guest rooms, catering facilities and storage, are located behind the main wedding stage. 

"Altogether these are memorable, dream-like spaces, with color and texture similar to fresco painting," said the studio. According to the architects, the playful use of the classical column, usually reserved for buildings of importance, adds to the ceremonial quality of the design without being a pastiche of classical architecture. 

Floor plan

Garden of columns diagram

Circular node diagram

Circular node diagram

Circular node diagram

PHTAA Living Design previously converted an old suburban Bangkok house into a new restaurant by maintaining domestic feeling throughout the structure.

Project facts

Project name: Found Wedding Venue

Architects: PHTAA Living Design

Location: Bangkok, Thailand 

Size: 4,500m2 

Date: 2021

All images © Beersingnoi

All drawings © PHTAA Living Design

> via PHTAA Living Design