The historic coastal fishing village of Angsila in Thailand was once a thriving small-scale fishing town. However over the past three years ocean pollution, market disruption and a dwindling local workforce has left the population struggling to sustain their way of life.

The Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion rises as a solution to this: aiming to raise awareness and appreciation of the historic coastal village and revitalise the local economy through a “sea-to-table” dining experience. The pavilion acts as a floating restaurant, allowing local fishermen to bring small groups of visitors from shore to the pavilion where they can select their own oysters in the ocean and prepared fresh to eat.

The structure itself hybridises the traditional bamboo scaffolding used for oyster and mussel cultivation. Like these scaffoldings, the pavilion is built entirely by Angsila fishermen, utilising native shallow-ocean bamboo construction techniques that requires no power tools.

The fishermen manually drive each bamboo column into the ocean floor, tying them together with “Rejected” car seatbelts. A graphic red agricultural tarp, commonly used in nearby nurseries, shades visitors from the ocean sun, yet allowing the passage of ocean breezes.

Photography: W Workspace