Location: Pattani, Thailand

Design Team: HAS design and research

Area: 148 m²

Year: 2026

Photography: Rungkit Charoenwat

Design Features: Set on the Pattani River in southern Thailand, the 148 m² Pattani Fishermen Community Hub expands the idea of a pier beyond transport infrastructure. Boat docking and unloading share the same structure with community gatherings, children's contact with the water and ecological observation. HAS design and research began with Pattani's fishing economy, Muslim heritage and intertwined Malay and Thai histories, seeking to restore an everyday relationship between the city and its river.

A steel platform is lifted above the water so fishing boats can berth along its edges while currents, sediment and tides continue underneath. Rather than forming a sealed deck, the platform is punctured by water-filled openings of different sizes. Visitors can look directly into the river or descend from the deck to swim, turning the pier from an endpoint at the shore into an open interface for repeated contact with water.

The bamboo enclosure draws on local material knowledge and the working river environment. Closely spaced vertical poles describe the outline of a house before bending gently toward the water. From a distance, the hub appears as a pale, translucent shelter; at close range, bamboo, rope, steel and light separate into finer layers. Changes in density preserve ventilation and long views while casting fragmented shade under the tropical sun.

The hollow bamboo sections and their durable, non-toxic coating also participate in an ecological strategy. Submerged poles, openings in the deck and stones positioned below the water offer surfaces and protected pockets for algae, fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish. Ecology is therefore not treated as scenery around the architecture, but as a process made visible and accessible at the scale of construction.

Use shifts over the course of the day. In the morning the hub is a working pier for departures, arrivals and the daily catch; by afternoon it becomes a place for swimming, resting and observing aquatic life. At night, linear lighting turns the bamboo frame into a small riverfront landmark. Religious gatherings, community ceremonies and the annual long-boat race add further layers, while the structure responds to cultural axes linking the river, City Pillar Shrine and mosque. Instead of monumentalising local identity, the project brings work, faith, ecology and public life back together at the water's edge.

Design Team: HAS design and research was founded by architects, artists and educators Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee, with studios in Bangkok and Shanghai. The name combines the founders' surnames while signalling a parallel commitment to design and research. The practice works across cultural buildings, religious spaces, installations, exhibitions and experimental architecture, drawing insight from informal construction, temporary markets and everyday infrastructure in Thailand, Southeast Asia and the wider Asian city.

Its work examines the relationship between nature and what the studio calls man-made nature, bringing material, pattern, technology and local building knowledge into contemporary forms rooted in climate and geography. Hung previously worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates and teaches across several Asian universities. Songkittipakdee received a Renzo Piano Foundation scholarship and worked at Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Paris. The founders led this project with Darin Thonongtor, Panipak Prinyagul, Grid Ochaphan and Natchadarin Putthapornmongkol, working with the Sabarang community during construction.