For ages, agriculture has been a highly revered practice in the fertile floodplains of Thailand, the patrimonial occupation bringing farmers success both locally and internationally. Aiming to expand awareness about the various forms of agribusiness in the country, the Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture stands as an office building that also hosts museum visitors regularly.

The design brief for the new office called for a welcoming space for gathering large groups of visitors to the museum. After a quick orientation on the key objective of the institution, the visitors would set foot into the main exhibition area and the adjoining spaces.

Situated beside a lush park, the museum commemorates the Golden Jubilee of King Rama IX of Thailand, Bhumibhol - his name translating to ‘the power of the earth’. The King’s symbolic name inspired the concept behind the structure, which appears to rise from the earth. The large slope created by plant-ladden steps visually links the ground to the sky. Unifying the ground with the building, the steps contain a variety of plant species that can change with every season to create beautiful landscape designs on it. With time, the building will see a green roof alongside the planted steps, turning the entire edifice into a verdant landmark.

The 5,900sqm building features a multipurpose hall on the ground floor, linking it to the drop-off area and allowing visitors to access the main museum building through the park. Also accessible on the ground floor are small shops that sell produce from the activities in the building and the adjacent neighbourhood. Vertical circulation occurs on two sides of the building.

The building hosts a range of seminar halls for various group sizes - on the second floor sits a large orientation room for around 700 people while the third floor houses a smaller lecture room for 10 people. An exhibition space, a museum shop, and mezzanine office spaces are well scattered throughout the building.

The design philosophy stayed true throughout the design process, only refining itself to stick within the budget and to allow for easy maintenance. “If it were possible, we would have preferred to design the roof structure as cast-in-place concrete so that we could plant the big tree on it and make it even greener,” Plan Architect tells STIR.

The materials used were readily sourced and are easy to maintain. The double-layered fibreglass roof lies under an expanded metal step, bringing natural light into the office spaces and creating a walkable roof area.

Project Details

Name: The Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture Office
Location: Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani, Thailand
Area: 5900 sqm
Architect: PLAN ARCHITECT co.,ltd
Design Team: Sinn Phonghanyudh, Wara Jithpratugs, Anak Boonprasartsuk, Chayothorn Songtirapunya

(Text by Ankitha Gattupalli, intern at stirworld.com)