The Cove is UNFORMALDESIGN’s newest hospitality project: a boutique hotel and café currently under construction on Ao Nang’s lifestyle lane in Krabi, Thailand. UNFORMALDESIGN is the Bangkok-based studio led by Italian architect Alessio Carta, working across hospitality, F&B and retail projects in Thailand and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The brief: one material language, three room identities
A boutique hotel built as a sequence of distinct environments needs a design system flexible enough to shift mood from room to room while still reading as one property. The Cove answers this with three room identities — Shore, Garden and Cliff — each interpreting the surrounding coastal landscape differently, connected by a shared spatial and material language that carries through texture, colour, light and crafted detail.
Three rooms, three moods, one system
Shore takes the lightest register: aquamarine tones, ivory and light oak, evoking the coastline directly outside. It reads as fresh and coastal, the room closest in feeling to the water.
Garden sits in the middle: warmer and more grounded, built from olive tones and natural textures for a softer, more family-oriented atmosphere.
Cliff takes the boldest register: deeper and more dramatic, defined by terracotta, dark wood and sculptural arched elements that echo the rock formations along Ao Nang’s coastline.
Placed together, the three rooms make the same argument at different volumes: one material and spatial language, tuned three ways, without fracturing the property’s identity.
Ground floor: a shared social space
At ground level, the café and lobby bring the three room identities together into one shared social space, continuing the same material language through texture, colour, light and crafted details rather than introducing a fourth, separate aesthetic.
From concept to construction
The Cove’s design concept is now set, and the project is currently under construction in Ao Nang, Krabi — moving from drawings and renders into physical space on site.
Working with UNFORMALDESIGN on hospitality projects
The Cove is part of UNFORMALDESIGN’s growing hospitality portfolio in Thailand, alongside F&B and retail work across the wider Asia-Pacific region. For boutique hotel, café or hospitality projects that need one design language to carry across multiple room types, reach the studio at alessio@unformaldesign.com or WhatsApp +66 97 112 3561.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Cove? The Cove is a boutique hotel and café by UNFORMALDESIGN on Ao Nang’s lifestyle lane in Krabi, Thailand, currently under construction.
What are Shore, Garden and Cliff? They are The Cove’s three room identities. Shore is light and coastal (aquamarine, ivory, light oak); Garden is warmer and grounded (olive tones, natural textures); Cliff is deeper and more dramatic (terracotta, dark wood, sculptural arches).
Does The Cove include a café? Yes. At ground level, the café and lobby form a shared social space that continues the same material language as the three room identities upstairs.
What materials define The Cove’s design? Aquamarine, ivory and light oak in Shore; olive tones and natural textures in Garden; terracotta, dark wood and sculptural arches in Cliff — unified by one shared spatial and material approach throughout the property.
Is The Cove part of a larger development? The Cove sits on Ao Nang’s lifestyle lane, a broader hospitality and retail development in Krabi that UNFORMALDESIGN is designing for.
Is The Cove open yet? Not yet — the concept is finalized and the project is currently under construction on site in Ao Nang, Krabi.
Does UNFORMALDESIGN handle both hospitality and F&B interiors? Yes. Alongside hotel and boutique hospitality projects like The Cove, the studio designs restaurants, cafés and retail interiors across Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region.