Bangkok-based Chat Architects has completed a bamboo fishing pavilion off the coast of Thailand. Named the Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion, and located off the historic Angsila fishing village, the pavilion aims to revitalize the area’s struggling fishing and seafood industry through the creation of a “new oyster eco-tourism infrastructure prototype.”

The pavilion is designed to host an oyster-tasting experience allowing fisherman to relay their fishing history and oyster cultivation heritage to visitors, while also serving shellfish cultivated on the scaffolding itself. In addition to its touristic and productive uses, the pavilion also serves as a campaigning symbol for the protection of the area’s sensitive coastal ecology.

“The pavilion design draws on and ‘bastardizes’ the widely deployed bamboo scaffolding traditionally used for oyster cultivation,” the designers explain. “When in use, local fishermen bring small groups of visitors from Angsila to the pavilion, where they can handpick oysters pulled from the ocean below, which are then prepared fresh to eat …a sea-to-table dining experience in a remarkable coastal setting.”

The scaffolding has been constructed entirely by the local fisherman, utilizing local shallow-ocean bamboo construction techniques that do not require power tools. Fishermen manually drive each bamboo column into the ocean floor in a “pogo-stick” style, while rejected car seatbelts from nearby auto plants are used to tie the bamboo elements together. Completing the scheme, a graphic red, light-filtering agricultural tarp shades visitors from the sun while allowing for the passage of ocean breezes.

Now completed, the scheme was recently honored as the winner of the International Building Beauty, Special Prize category at the 2023 World Architecture Festival.