Underwood Projects to Discover in Phuket
 
The Slate
Tucked away in northern Phuket, The Slate is a Bill Bensley x Underwood Art Factory collaboration – an industrial-tropical fantasy that feels both contemporary and deeply rooted in local heritage. Think of it as a resort with an edge, where design becomes an experience in itself.
 
Little Paris
A Bang Tao favourite among the international crowd, beloved for leisurely lunches, refined dinners, and nights that turn delightfully wild. On your next visit, take a closer look at the details – Jim Thompson patterns and other carefully curated touches selected by the Underwood team.
 
Junkyard Theatre
The playful, irreverent alter ego of the Underwood Art Factory. Expect a one-of-a-kind evening of wild comedy and self-aware absurdity. And yes – the Factory is literally the backstage, feeding the theatre its unmistakable creative pulse.
 
 
 
by Julia Sinikova
 
“It’s like Jekyll and Hyde, right?” Zachary Underwood says with a smile, describing the delicate line between Underwood Art Factory and Junkyard Theatre.
 
We’re sitting in a small office hidden behind an unremarkable door off the theatre’s main hall. And yet, the moment you step inside, you realize this is no longer theatre territory – it’s the Factory, the second and older heartbeat of the Underwood family business.
 
Zach’s own story is no less curious than the labyrinthine layout around us – or Stevenson’s tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde he jokingly references.
 
His parents moved from Australia to Thailand when he was three, so the future designer grew up immersed in Thai life while remaining very much a “third culture kid”. The family relocated from Bangkok to Phuket in the late 1990s, and this eccentric factory became one of Zach’s earlier, stranger “universities”.
 
What exactly does the Underwood Art Factory produce? The closest description might be this: they manufacture atmosphere.
 
The product is a space with a soul – starting from concept and mood board, ending with the objects that embody that idea in steel, wood, and texture. The office where we sit is one of those unmistakable “Underwood Spaces.”
 
“We find a unique design DNA in every project we do,” Zach says. “We do design and architectural concepts for hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, beach clubs – to full turnkey packages. We’ve just finished the new look for Maya Beach Club and did the fit-out for SIN Rooftop on top of AVANI+ Riverside in Bangkok, which really stands out amongst the city’s rooftop venues.” Among their hotel work, the most recognized is TreeHouse Villas Koh Yao Noi – a whimsical cluster of treetop “nests” woven into the jungle canopy. Building on that legacy, the Factory is now developing a new generation of elevated escapes, including the curated Twinpalms Treehouses in Bangtao and a series of luxury tented villas for Anantara Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai.

Zach explains that for the modern traveler, luxury vacation is built on the idea of experience, rather than luxury alone.
 
“Today, if you want people to travel somewhere, you have to find a truly beautiful location and work very hard to create something special. We develop entire projects from scratch, building narratives that connect with guests in authentic way,” he says.
 
At the Factory they dream up treetop homes for resorts, assemble fantastical restaurant interiors piece by piece, and craft sculptural art objects.
 
“Art and design are related, but they’re not the same,” he says.“In design you have a context, a brief from the client. You have to use your creativity to fit something beautiful and compelling into a defined format. Art, on the other hand, is a free exploration without boundaries.”
 
“For most of my life, I’ve created spaces as a designer – always within a brief,” Zach continues.“However the Junkyard Theatre is a different animal, it’s a wild space we created purely as art.”
 
First came a showroom inside the factory. Then a café. And eventually the entire space transformed into a theatre with a eclectic cabaret show. The name wasn’t chosen at random: old engines, machines, and mysterious mechanical relics have always inspired the Underwoods. If something rusted away in a junkyard or someone’s forgotten backyard, Underwood Art Factory would give it a second life.
 
“I’ve learned so much working in the family business over the past – what, maybe fifteen years?” Zach says.“I always had a talent for concept design, at giving things purpose and narrative. What excites me most is creating spaces that have stories that resonate with people.”
 
Beyond the “junk” that birthed the theatre’s name, Zach draws inspiration from travel – especially now.
 
“There is a danger when you’re doing something you love – you can get lost in work,” he says.“For almost ten years I was all work, all the time. I didn’t even realize it. Only recently have my priorities shifted and I’ve started finding a balance with life goals outside work: taking care of myself, traveling and pursuing new experiences.”

Zach pauses, considering this shift.

“Next month I’m going skydiving. If I survive, I’ll tell you how the ‘balance’ thing is going..” he concludes.

 
To learn more about the Underwood Art Factory and the Junkyard Theatre, please visit Instagram.
RL Phuket’s earlier story about Zach Underwood and his father John.