T3 Architects cloaks this social club, envelop in a ‘Natural curtain’ of greenery in Cambodia

Responding to the tropical climate of Phnom Penh, T3 Architects has finished the Coconut Club wrapped in greenery — inspired by bioclimatic principles and prompting regenerative design.

The Coconut Club is a social space, fully public in nature  It includes hospitality, entertainment, wellness, and restaurant components, spread across its two floors. Composed of several social entities, the architecture presents a building as an open space, both spatially and experientially, tailor-made to create sustainable design.

The rectangular footplate is composed of a simple grid structure that is efficient and features deep overhangs, spread across two levels with an area of 1920 sqm. . This simple gesture is an essential element while designing in the tropics, providing sun protection and reducing overheating inside. 

Set between the riverfront and lush tropical garden, the building is designed for increased natural ventilation, featuring a ‘natural curtain’ of greenery (Veronia Eliptica) enclosing the external façade. These simple, low-tech solutions help create human comfort while reducing energy consumption — the architects deliver a building devoid of air conditioning in the tropical context.

T3 Architects calls their design elegant biophilic architecture, increasing human affinity to Nature through their architecture. T3 creates solutions that are low maintenance with almost no need for watering under the tropical climate. T3 explains further, “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 easy, and the plants can develop easily without sophisticated irrigation systems; low tech solutions are very often the best, from a long-term perspective.”

The building is finished simple and kept mostly raw with bamboo panels on the ceiling to create tropical touches. Devoid of finishes, the simplicity hints at the agenda of reducing the carbon footprint of the building. It also compliments by acting as a backdrop to the greenery and Nature it often frames, as one manoeuvres inside the building. The mechanical fans inside are provided for days when there is no wind, ensuring proper thermal comfort inside the building.

Coconut Club is a simple reminder of what can be achieved through architecture that is mindful and grounds itself in its context. The restrictive approach is refreshing that uses bioclimatic principles to drive human comfort and wellbeing while pushing the sustainability agenda.

 

 

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About T3 Architects

T3 Architects is an international Design Team specialized in sustainable Architecture & contemporary Interior design, having ETHIC as main value and focusing on 4 fundamentals:

 SUSTAINABILITY

Design buildings where people can live in harmony with the local environment & Nature, in a healthy way.

CREATIVITY

Creativity can transform a space into an attractive and unique experience, an experience that stays in our memory.

SAVOIR-FAIRE / KNOW-HOW

Knowledge gives us the capability of bringing the functional and the beautiful together in perfect unison.

WELLNESS

Meaningful and thoughtful Design creates Harmony between people and the space we live in.