Sandwash Apartment: Rediscovering Raw Materials in Modern Bangkok Interiors

Located in Bangkok, Thailand, Sandwash Apartment is a 140 m² modern renovation designed by Architectkidd. Completed in 2025, the project is led by architect Luke Yeung, who also oversaw the photography. The design emphasizes raw, durable materials and handcrafted textures, creating a unique, sustainable, and resilient urban living environment.

In the heart of Bangkok’s rapidly evolving urban landscape, Sandwash Apartment redefines what it means to renovate with resilience and authenticity. Following a recent regional earthquake, the project challenged conventional approaches to modern apartment interiors, emphasizing durable, sustainable materials over superficial, lightweight alternatives.

Rediscovering Sandwash: A Forgotten Material

While contemporary construction in Southeast Asia often prioritizes glossy veneers and thin paneling, Architectkidd chose to highlight a material historically overlooked in Thai architecture: sandwash cement. This mixture of stone, gravel, and cement—traditionally combined on-site—creates a textured, rustic finish when the outer layer is washed away.

Once popular for outdoor floors, walls, temples, and schools, sandwash had fallen out of favor, often relegated to worn-out public areas and neglected structures. By reintroducing sandwash in a modern apartment setting, the project celebrates a material with both cultural significance and timeless durability.

Material Innovation Meets Local Craftsmanship

Located in an early-generation high-rise, the apartment’s interior is stripped to its raw concrete structure. Sandwash surfaces establish a visual and tactile connection with the building’s original architecture, while hand-mixed, on-site production ensures cost-effective, energy-efficient construction. Local workers crafted the textures using small-scale ingredients and traditional tools, marrying modern design with local expertise.

The use of sandwash also allowed for creative flexibility. Its malleable properties enabled smooth curves, rounded angles, and dynamic forms that would be challenging with solid stone or brick. This adaptability transformed the apartment into a space where function meets sculptural form, offering both comfort and aesthetic depth.

A New Standard for Sustainable Interiors

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, Sandwash Apartment is a statement in sustainable, resilient architecture. By prioritizing robust, minimally processed materials over ephemeral trends, the project demonstrates how upcycling, preservation, and thoughtful material selection can coexist in modern urban residences.

This interior design approach repositions sandwash from a utilitarian material into a versatile, creative finish for contemporary living spaces. It serves as a prototype for balancing cultural heritage with modern requirements, highlighting the enduring potential of materials often deemed outdated.

All photographs are works of Luke Yeung