Architecture framed as memory
The Memory Café is a rebranding project transforming a small riverside café into a new architectural landmark in Khong Chiam, Ubon Ratchathani.
Rather than merely serving coffee, the design invites visitors to experience the landscape as part of a memory.
Designed by SA-ARD architecture & construction, the building embraces the panoramic view of the Mekong River, framing nature as both subject and scenery.
Design Narrative
The concept stems from the owner’s passion for film photography.
The entry sequence was thus designed as a viewfinder: a framed path where the coffee bar and river view align into a single composition.
Here, architecture itself becomes a camera — capturing light, time, and memory.
From the outside, a rhythmic façade of angled concrete fins and frosted polycarbonate panels conceals the interior view.
This deliberate restraint heightens anticipation; the full panorama is only revealed at the end of the spatial journey.
Light, Line & Layer
The façade’s diagonal rhythm continues seamlessly into the ceiling planes inside,
echoing the mirrored geometry of reflection — much like light bouncing through a camera lens.
The ceiling height gradually steps down from 4.0 m to 2.8 m, guiding the gaze toward the main counter where coffee and scenery converge.
The textured concrete wall was cast in situ with custom vertical molds, adding shadow depth and softening the long perspective of the space.
All horizontal lines — the counter, furniture, and window mullions — align precisely at 90 cm,
a deliberate height that connects the act of brewing and viewing into one continuous horizon.
Material & Atmosphere
The café employs an exposed-material palette: reinforced concrete, steel roof framing, skim-coated smart board, and raw steel countertops sealed with clear lacquer.
The counter base is finished with bendable clay tiles, their joints precisely aligned with the glass panels behind —
a meticulous detail that fuses architecture, furniture, and structure into one coherent frame.
At the rear, a stepped amphitheater terrace extends toward the river, blending seating with landscape to ensure uninterrupted views.
Strategically placed planters introduce greenery, softening the concrete tones and grounding the space in its natural context.
SA-ARD Perspective
“We designed The Memory Café as a space where architecture quietly holds emotion.
When one stands before the counter, coffee in hand, facing the Mekong —
that moment itself becomes memory.”