Kaomai Museums and Tea Barn

“Kaomai Museums and Tea Barn” is an adaptive-reused project of the sixty-eight-year old tobacco processing plant estate in Chiang Mai, since 1955. The project revitalizes the overlooked industrial typology, once glorious community’s socioeconomic center. Inserting the new contemporary uses into the old barns resurrects this local center to life again and conserving the architectural and ecological heritage creates an “Oasis” among the urban development. The architect designed the masterplan and the “Symbiosis” framework to balance the co-existence between the old tobacco drying barns, mature trees, and new uses to pass on and sustain the community legacy economically, ecologically and respectfully. “Kaomai Museums and Tea Barn” adapted for new educational, recreational, and commercial programs, the barn cluster was transformed by “subtle design intervention” strategy maintains the barn values and authenticity. 1. The first Museum was preserved by repairing and reinstalling original elements; brick surfaces, reinforced concrete structure, gable roof, voids, furnaces and tobacco hanging sticks, etc. The second Kaomai Museum was inserted by the new offset foundation and steel structure, strengthening the existing barn and flexible for extension. Adding the steel timeline panel serves as an introduction to the estate. The shady existing big trees were preserved by adopted arboriculture techniques to maintain the co-existence between them and the barns. Also, the informative signs in front of the barns exhibit the real evidences of time. 2. For the Tea Barn, the dilapidated barn was remodeled by reused bricks and minimum profile of steel insertion, serving for public use and shading. The new sunken space and opened glass walls welcome the horizontal connection to the surrounding programs and close-to-nature experience, while highlighting the vertical immersive tea drinking ambience. Adding retaining wall and gravel floor for water management, hiding MEP work under the concrete bridge, finishing the new granite top counter for the heritage trace’s reflection and for tea serving ceremony, and reusing reclaiming wood for furniture are design insertion for the new use. Hidden lighting designs for glowing in the dark reminiscing about the drying barns. The Tea Barn introduces the new commercial program to sustain the estate. The project embraces “local inclusion”, local artisans and former workers were invited and giving us the valuable historical information and original construction method and techniques for the barn conversion. The original materials available in local area were used as in the past for all of the barns conservation and adaptation. Moreover, local recruitment draws local people back to the community. Kaomai Museums and Tea Barn respectfully keep the spirit of place and pass on to the next generations with the subtle design intervention and adaptation framework.