Vietnam and Cambodia-based architecture studio T3 Architects has covered the façade of a Coconut Club in Cambodia with a "natural curtain" made of plants and trees. 

Named Coconut Club & Park Cambodia, the 1,920-square-metre structure was completed as part of a master plan of the Coconut Club Recreational Park located in Phnom Penh, dedicated to kids, teenagers and families.

Adopting the bioclimatic principles in design, the studio built a two-storey club, made of thick concrete floor plates, and covered the whole façade with a plenty of trees and plants, creating its own natural curtain to help bring shadow and sun protection.

The main building, called the Coconut Club, proposes different activities around hospitality, entertainment and wellness such as organic restaurant, river view bar, spa, kids club, event area.

According to the architects, for the project the idea was simple: connecting the main building with outdoor activities like bicycle tour, water games area, slides through tropical plants, observation tower.

Based on the bioclimatic principles, the design team intended to avoid the use of air conditioning - except some specific areas like spa and meeting room - with a building located between the riverfront and a lush tropical garden, increasing the natural cross ventilation. 

"The sun protections in bamboo and overhangs have been tailor-made to optimize the control of natural light and avoid overheating, both to improve customers comfort and reduce energy consumption," said T3 Architects.

As the architects said, "this building is also a nice manifesto of a smart biophilic architecture, bringing nature around and into the building, but without increasing the loading on the structure (to avoid over costs), as most of the plants and trees directly grow into the natural soil around the building."

The maintenance is also easy and the plants can grow easily without using a sophisticated irrigation system as the architects applied low-tech solutions to sustain the building in the long term. 

The plants were used to create a “natural curtain”, called Veronia Eliptica, commonly known as a plant species. It creates a green facade and bring shadow and sun protection and it grows quickly with a very limited maintenance (almost no need watering under tropical climate).

The main structure of the building is made of concrete without applying any specific finishing, according to the architects, the main intention is "to keep the structure in a long term perspective, to get a reasonable carbon footprint." 

T3 designed some false ceiling made of bamboo panels which combine coziness and a tropical touch. The bamboo panels also hide a part of the electrical cables. 

"Ceiling fans add some comfort in case there is no wind to always ensure a decent thermal comfort for customers at any season or any time of the day," the studio added. 

"The Coconut Club is already a famous place in Phnom Penh to relax, especially to enjoy sun set and the river breeze!."

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Section

Project facts

Project name: Coconut Club & Park Cambodia

Architects: T3 Architects

Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

Size: 1920m2 

Date: 2021

Client: Canadia Bank

All images © Bruce Vincentiis

All drawings © T3 Architects

> via T3 Architects