Thai architect Jaknarin Kaewprathom has completed Maeram Community Mall, a neighborhood-scale commercial center located along Route 1096 in Chiang Mai. Defined by its sweeping wooden roof and textured façade, the mall reinterprets local materials and passive design strategies to create a public-facing retail space that feels informal and rooted in place.
Project Name: Maeram Community Mall
Studio Name: Jaknarin Kaewprathom
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Year: 2025
Area: 800 m²
A lightweight commercial edge
The project replaces an older cluster of low-rise buildings with a new L- and U-shaped plan that opens toward the street. Its defining gesture is a wave-like canopy, clad in timber, that curves both in section and elevation. The roof provides shelter from tropical sun and rain while framing a shaded pedestrian corridor.
At 800 square meters, the development is modest in scale but impactful in urban terms. It aims to soften the boundary between commercial architecture and public space, creating an everyday meeting point for locals and tourists alike.
Pattern, shadow, and air
A custom lattice system—constructed from folded metal panels in white and copper tones—wraps around the building’s edges, functioning as a brise-soleil. This perforated screen casts ever-shifting shadows across the wooden façade, referencing vernacular motifs such as basketry and traditional Thai gables.
Behind the screen, retail tenants include a 7-Eleven, a McDonald’s, and a series of small shopfronts, all accessible via a continuous covered walkway.
Local reinterpretation
Internally, even the ceiling of the convenience store features a patterned system of woven and perforated panels. “The goal was to elevate everyday experiences,” said Kaewprathom, “not through decoration, but through pattern and permeability that feels embedded in the region’s identity.”
A site plan reveals the project’s integration with surrounding parking, existing buildings, and vegetation, all of which are preserved or enhanced to maintain continuity with the landscape.
Small scale, broad impact
While relatively compact, Maeram Community Mall proposes a scalable model for future Thai retail centers—one that prioritizes climate, comfort, and cultural memory over glass boxes and generic signage.
