Space: Restricted Residential Space

    The restricted residential space is more individualized to each member of the family who lives in the house. It hides away from the traffic of circulation to create a more peaceful and enclosed space for the individual. The traditional house in Luang Prabang, Laos has its restricted space clearly divided with the non-restricted space with an enclosed family room in between the living room and the bedrooms. This emits the feelings of restfulness within the bedrooms because it is further away from the largely engaged area. The further division of the restricted area then becomes personalized to each individual of the house since it is only accessible by a selected number of the household members. On the other hand, the bedrooms can also be divided for the guests of the family such as the traditional house in Southern Laos. The family bedroom is compacted with five beds arranged in a row with different spacing for different members of the family, and a single bedroom is walled to accommodate a guest. The same idea of having a restricted, open living space between the bedrooms and the high foot traffic area also prevails in this house. This can be compared to Thailand’s Northern traditional house, which has the bedrooms divided immediately by the central corridor of the house. The corridor diverts the foot traffic to the side of the bedrooms instead of the front of the bedrooms, creating a more private and peaceful restricted space. In short, the restricted residential space always attempts to be the furthest away from the engaged area for the privacy and peacefulness of the household members and provides an enclosed area for each member to feel individualized.

Laos House Elevations

Point of Entrance and Exit of the Restricted Residential Space

Northern Thailand's Traditional House Plan
Direction of Entry to Restricted Residential Space