IDIN Architectural Firm has completed the Choi Fong Coffee and Tea House 2 project, located in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The building features a flat roof topped with a raised, cone-shaped skylight that floods the spacious single-story interior with natural light. Designed to meet the needs of tourists visiting the first café in Choi Fong Plantation, this project has quickly become one of the area’s most popular attractions. Situated on a mountain plantation near the original café, the coffee and tea house includes a 250-seat dining area, a large souvenir shop, and an exhibition space where staff demonstrate the tea brewing process and share the history of tea art.
The primary visitors of the coffee and tea house are families with elderly members. To accommodate this, IDIN Architects designed a single-story rectangular interior that offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. The main design goal was to immerse visitors in the plantation’s natural environment while ensuring accessibility and comfort for older guests, as explained by the Thailand-based firm. To maximize the scenic views on the sloping site, the restaurant is arranged on multiple levels following the land’s contours, allowing guests to enjoy different perspectives of the scenery. Additionally, an extended central space with protective eaves was incorporated to shield the dining area from heavy rain. A ramp runs beneath the eaves, providing wheelchair access to all levels.
In order to fulfill the owner’s requirement for multiple functional zones within a single floor, IDIN Architects designed a large floor plan punctuated by scattered skylights. These cone-shaped skylights not only bring ample natural light into the interior but also effectively manage rainwater runoff. Instead of large glass panels with complex framing, each skylight is uniquely shaped and protrudes individually, using small glass sections to reduce construction costs.
These cone-shaped skylights also distribute light evenly across the entire space, creating dynamic patterns of light and shadow throughout the day. “The openings are large enough to allow trees to grow beneath them, harmoniously echoing the surrounding mountain landscape,” the architects explained.
The entrance area features stone walls with a single open passageway that serves as a “ventilation duct,” allowing visitors to feel the cool mountain breeze as they enter. As guests walk through this passage, the dim lighting gradually brightens until they reach the restaurant, where they can enjoy delicious food and scenic views of the plantation. The materials chosen for this project—pine wood, steel, glass, and stone—are consistent with those used in the original café and reflect Choi Fong’s commitment to organic cultivation.
Project Information:
Project Name: Choi Fong Coffee and Tea House No.2
Architectural Firm: IDIN Architects
Location: Chiang Rai, Thailand
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