The opening exhibition ‘Friends of the Home’ features over 30 Thai designers presented in immersive ‘roomscapes.’ How did you and Rathee approach curating this survey of contemporary Thai design, and what story were you hoping to tell?

Design in Thailand is a story of an evolving collective consciousness that draws influences from within and around the world. It’s difficult to define a ‘Thai design’ style, so our goal was really to show the breadth and diversity of the creative practices here. Everything from heritage craft to hyper-modern manufacturing to collectible design. The age of designers in the show spans people in their 20’s up to their 70’s. Most of the designers are native Thai, but then you also have people like me who are transplants, or Ceremonial Pacha, a ceramicist from Ecuador who has made Chiang Mai home to his studio for several years. For us, this diversity and breadth is the story of Thai design in 2025.

Each floor serves a different purpose. Could you walk us through your vision for how these spaces will work together to facilitate cultural exchange?

The first floor is our studio/workshop which serves as a prototyping space and will be used as part of our Design Residency in the future. We’ll also host workshops here.

Moving upstairs, the 2nd floor is the beginning of our gallery and office space and what we call our ‘living showroom’. We want to show furniture, lighting and home decor in a lived in context to make it as accessible as possible. There’s a shared kitchen on this floor as well.

I live on the 3rd floor but soon I’ll move out and this will be subsumed into the Design Residency apartment along with the bedroom, bathroom and living room on the 4th floor. When we don’t have residents, we’ll open this space up for short term rentals for people visiting Chiang Mai that would like to experience the PERN BAAN home. The rooftop on the 5th floor contains a sun room with lots of tropical plants and a terrace with an outdoor kitchen where we host our opening events. I hope that in the future we’ll be able to do special events with local chefs here, or cooking workshops. I’m open to using the space in any way that will bring people from different walks of life together.

Many of these designers were your guides when you first began navigating Thailand’s creative ecosystem. How has their influence shaped your vision for this space?

Primarily in the material output. I wouldn’t know about a lot of the Thai materials and processes if it weren’t for the friends who introduced me to them over the years. There are many brilliant designers here in Thailand that are working in mediums I’ve yet to explore, and by bringing their creations into our space it elevates the experience of our own products.

The renovation itself seems to embody Pern Baan’s mission – bringing together local craftspeople to reimagine this historic building. Could you share some stories about that process?

Oh man, the renovation itself – if I’m being completely honest – was a nightmare. Looking back on it I got in way over my head when I decided to gut and build anew in a 5-story building. If I’d started with a space half this size it would have been a much more manageable process for my first time embarking on a reno.

Since my background is in fabrication and woodworking, my nature is to try and do a lot of things myself. I built most of the woodwork and cabinetry in the building, and then I managed the rest of the construction myself by working with various independent tradespeople and several different contractors. I can’t say that working with contractor’s here has been very fun. It’s not the same dynamic as collaborating with craftspeople on our products. But I learned a lot from the many skilled workers who’ve been in and out of the space over the last 3 years. I know a whole lot more about plumbing, tile adhesives, skim coats, different types of cement, waterproofing walls for tropical environments – things you just never encounter on a daily basis and take for granted when you’re the end user of a building!

Many mistakes were made, dollars wasted, and blood shed during this process. I took a nasty fall that had me in the emergency room with dozens of stitches, a contused hip and knee sprain that almost derailed the project completely. So I have to say – I’m glad this is done, and now we can start using the space to build the connections we really care about.

Beyond this opening exhibition, what kind of programming and community engagement do you envision for the space throughout the year?

Our current focus is on programming during the months of March and April when northern Thailand has the worst air quality in the world for weeks at a time. Sadly our local government is not doing anything to address the problem, which stems from agricultural burning and the food/meat industry.

We’re making investments into the space that will allow us to have purified air, and then we want to open it up to the public for people to come and escape during the days with the worst air quality. Kind of like a ‘cooling center’ that you’d have during a heat wave. To go along with this we’re planning a series of gatherings called ‘Breathe and Talk’, which will be informal events to bring people together around design but also discuss what we can do as a collective about this air issue which is affecting our community’s long term health.

Long term, we’ll be launching our Design Residency program mid year, which will coincide with workshops, talks, and future exhibitions. If we don’t have visiting residents we’ll also open the space up as an Airbnb for people who want an opportunity to really experience the PERN BAAN vision.

How do you hope this physical space will transform the way people experience and engage with both Pern Baan’s work and Thai craftsmanship more broadly?

So much of our lives happens in the digital world these days, so our goal with our Shophouse was to create an experience that was really immersive. If it’s our products, then here you have an opportunity to see and/or use them in context. Through our programming initiatives, people from different walks of life (both Thai’s and foreigners) will have a chance to meet and exchange their love of design face to face.

Then there are the ways that the physical space connects with the digital. Unfortunately I can’t afford to import all of my Thai friends designs to the US and show them in person. But here I can stage interiors, take photos, and show our audience back in the US a portrait of Thai design that I hope challenges their preconceptions.