In some parts of rural Thailand, regional schools are located far from the villages they serve and public transportation may be scarce or nonexistent — which means that for some children, it can be hard just to access the schools closest to them.
That’s certainly the case in the mountains of Northern Thailand, where the Baan Nhong Bua Primary School is as far as ten kilometers from many students’ homes. Located near the Myanmar border in Ta Song Yang, the school is far enough away that most kids can’t get there every day and end up dropping out due to logistics.
Recognizing the issue, the architecture students at the country’s most prestigious school for this field, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, volunteered to build a small dorm for the school, which has about 70 enrollees in total. This would allow the students who live far from school to sleep over on the grounds as needed, meaning they don’t have to commute daily.
They started the project knowing it had a very limited budget — just THB170,000 (US$5,200) — and that it would be without electricity.
The wooden structure they designed can accommodate about 20 students per night and was completed in 28 days.
The university students and villagers built the 100-square-foot concrete, wood, and metal structure together. Its name (and theme) is Falling Rain Dorm, or phirun proiprai in Thai.
The theme is obvious in the round, hollow bamboo circle details in the “windows” of the dorm, which almost look like falling rain droplets. The dorm is perched on stilts a few meters above the ground, meaning the dorm won’t flood in the monsoon season and providing storage under the structure.
The building was constructed with 1.2 meters of cantilevered balconies for additional space and made with concrete slab flooring. The walls are made of local bamboo and the roof of wood and steel.
The architecture students said that they recognized how lucky they were to get to pursue their studies and wanted to be able to help less privileged youngsters get their education as well.
