Soe Ker Tie

The area close to the Thai-Burmese border is mostly inhabited by karen refugees, many of them children. The Noh Bo orphanage was founded by a Norwegian, Ole Jørgen Edna, in 2006. The extension of the orphanage (from 24 to 50 places) was carried out by the TYIN studio, a group of architecture students from the University of Trondheim, and funded by nearly 60 Norwegian firms. The distinctive shape of the building’s roof (Soe-Ker-Tie means “butterfly”) serves both to improve the ventilation of the cottages and to collect rainwater in the rainy season. 

The wooden and metal supporting frames were manufactured in a nearby factory, but most of the work was completed in situ with the involvement of local people and using locally available materials where possible. The bamboo curtain walls are made using traditional regional techniques, while worn out car tyres were used to cast the four concrete foundation pads.

The extensions took half a year to complete and cost approximately 2.5 million forints.