MahaNakhon Bangkok Skyscraper Building, OMA High Rise Property, Tower Project Design

MahaNakhon Bangkok Tower Building

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel: New High-Rise Development in Thailand, Asia design by Ole Scheeren Architect, OMA

28 Jul 2009

MahaNakhon Bangkok Tower

Location: Thailand
Dates: 2009-12
Design: Ole Scheeren, Partner, Office for Metropolitan Architecture

MahaNakhon – a visionary new 77-storey high-rise complex located on a 3.6 acre site in the heart of Bangkok’s Central Business District with a direct link to the Chongnonsi BTS Skytrain station between Silom and Sathorn Roads. MahaNakhon will be the most ambitious complex of contemporary architecture and urbanism in Thailand and the tallest building in Bangkok.

Intended as a new landmark and destination within the city and internationally, MahaNakhon is being developed by PACE Development with its joint venture partner IBC Limited and is designed by Ole Scheeren, Partner, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).

The development, more than 150,000 square meters, will be comprised of: MahaNakhon Square, a dramatic outdoor landscaped public plaza; MahaNakhon Terraces, a 10,000 square meter upscale retail centre with lush gardens and terraces spread over multiple levels for restaurants, cafes, and a 24 hour marketplace; The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok with 200 extraordinary apartments, each offering the atmosphere of a skybox penthouse, managed by the The Ritz-Carlton with five-star amenities for all residents; The Bangkok Edition, a signature boutique hotel with 150 hotel rooms, a collaboration between Marriott International and renowned hotelier Ian Schrager; and a multi-level roof-top Sky Bar and restaurant.

image © OMA/Ole Scheeren 2009

With its distinctive sculptural appearance, MahaNakhon has been carefully carved to introduce a three-dimensional ribbon of architectural ‘pixels’ that circle the tower’s full height, as if excavating portions of the elegant glass curtain wall to reveal the inner life of the building.

This creates an indelibly arresting profile for MahaNakhon on the skyline while generating a set of very special features – projecting glass skyboxes with sweeping views and generous indoor/outdoor spaces with plunge pools and oversized terraces – uncommon to high-rise living in global capitals but well-suited to the tropical climate of Bangkok.

The ‘pixels’ have been designed to maximize unobstructed panoramas for the residences, offering rare bird’s eye views of the city and the Chaophraya River. At the same time, residences located in the non-pixilated area of the tower enjoy a parallel innovation never before seen in a skyscraper: single-level and duplex units offer grandly scaled double height living spaces equipped with multiple bays of full-height operable bi-fold balcony windows – sections of curtain wall that literally fold inwards to open up homes to fresh breezes and cityscapes, allowing living areas to become indoor/outdoor environments.

MahaNakhon has been designed to give form to and further advance the extraordinary energy and progressive culture of Bangkok as the city emerges internationally among world capitals, attracting an increasingly sophisticated and diverse international population.

Site
MahaNakhon is set in Bangkok’s CBD directly adjacent to the Chongnonsi BTS Station and between Silom and Sathorn Roads. MahaNakhon features world-class infrastructure including the upcoming BRT system and future developments in surrounding neighborhood.

Schedule
Residential presales period: August 2009
Construction commencement: 3rd Quarter 2009
Residential show unit opening: 4th Quarter, 2009
Retail center completion: 4th Quarter, 2011
Hotel completion: 4th Quarter, 2012
Residence completion: 4th Quarter, 2012

Developer
MahaNakhon is a joint venture between PACE Development Co., Ltd. and Industrial Buildings Corporation Public Company Ltd.
Chief Executive Officer (PACE): Sorapoj Techakraisri
Chief Executive Officer (IBC): Dalit Braun

Design Architect
Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA Beijing
Partner: Ole Scheeren
Associate: Eric Chang
Project Manager: Tim Archambault; Project Team: Shuo Wang, Mitesh Dixit, Paola Mongiu, Timothy Clark, Steven Chen, Sirichai Bunchua, Giannantonio Bongiorno, Sean Hoo Ch’ng, Ryan Choe, Darren Chang, Dan Cheong, Joseph Tang, Pengfei Liu, Lichen Zhu, Minqi Gu, Jasmin Delic, Jerome Haferd, Harvey Chung, Zachary Heineman

Executive Architect
PACE Development Co., Ltd
Sorapoj Techakraisri, Chief Executive Officer
Chotipol Techakraisri, Executive Director

The Ritz-Carlton Residences Interior Designer
David Collins Studio, London, United Kingdom

Project Management
PPS Bangkok

Consultants
Structural Engineering: Arup, Beijing
Mechanical Engineering: Arup, Beijing
Seismic and Wind Engineering Testing: CPI, Thailand
Façade Consultant: Front Inc. New York, NY
Lighting Design: Isometrix, London and Hong Kong
Retail Consultant: Husband Retail Consulting, Hong Kong

Type of Development
Mixed-Use Development, including Residences, Hotel and Retail

Residences Brand
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok

Hotel Brand
Bangkok Edition Hotel by Marriott International in collaboration with Ian Schrager

Upscale Retail Center
The MahaNakhon Terraces retail center contains approx. 10,000 square meters (110,000 square feet) of international restaurants, cafes, bakeries, specialty food outlets, bookstore and 24-hour market, and more.

Residential Saleable Area
Approx. 60% of total project GFA (with 20% for hotel and 20% for retail center)

Total Project Value
18 billion THB (US$ 515 million)

Total Project Investment
14 billion THB (US$ 400 million)

Total Target Equity Investment
5 billion THB (US$ 143 million)
current equity already invested at 2.15 billion THB

Residential Average Price
250,000 THB per square meter (US$ 7,100 per square meter)

Number of Residential Units
200 residences

Unit Types
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok will offer 2 – 5 bedroom residences, including single-level and duplex homes and sky residence penthouses.

image © OMA/Ole Scheeren 2009

MahaNakhon Tower Building Data

Design

The design of MahaNakhon dismantles the typical tower and podium typology, creating not a tower in isolation but instead a skyscraper that melds with the city in both literal and cultural ways by gradually ‘dissolving’ the architecture as it flows downward to meet the ground and upward into the sky.

This is achieved through a series of generous cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at The Hill – the area of tower’s base housing the luxury retail and entertainment center – where the architecture is articulated to evoke the shifting protrusions of a mountain landscape. The Hill Terraces fit keenly into lush cultivated gardens that give way to the city’s own green swaths.

MahaNakhon also features an adjacent freestanding building known as the Cube, with multi-level indoor/outdoor terraces corresponding to those of the Hill Terraces across the expanse of an outdoor atrium. The outdoor atrium, a metaphorical natural valley, offers a network of social spaces with an extensive and carefully selected mix of dining, leisure, and fitness facilities that serve The Ritz-Carlton Residences, guests of The Bangkok Edition Hotel, and the general public via a direct above-ground pedestrian link to the main CBD Skytrain station, as well as plaza-level access and connections.

MahaNakhon Square, located in front of the tower, is also intimately connected to the space between The Hill and Cube. This dynamic public plaza – intended as a meeting place, a spot for planned and spontaneous cultural events – will be a landscaped retreat for the city’s inhabitants, a gathering place, a rare venue for cultural and social interactivity, with direct connection to the Chongnonsi Skytrain station and future rapid bus transit system: in sum, an urban oasis that provides refuge from the intense daily clamor of greater Bangkok while offering constant easy access for reconnection to it.

The top of the tower houses a multi-level three-floor Sky Bar and restaurant with dramatic double- height spaces, private dining facilities for entertaining, and a rooftop outdoor bar with sweeping 360° views of the skyline and river, floating 310 meters above the city.

image © OMA/Ole Scheeren 2009

MahaNakhon Tower Bangkok – Building Information

Site Area
Approx. 15,000 square meters (160,000 square feet)

Gross Floor Area
Approx. 150,000 square meters (1.6 million square feet)

Building Dimensions
Tower Dimensions: 39m x 39m
Height: 310m

Floors
Main Tower: 77 above (+1 below)
Cube: 7 above (+4 below)

Key Building Features
Main Outdoor/Landscape Features
-MahaNakhon Square with tropical landscaping, terraced seating and multi-purpose event space
-Expansive indoor/outdoor terraces with seating and landscape features at both retail Cube and Hill Terraces form a public “Outdoor Atrium” of gardens and activities.

Site Circulation/Building Access
-Tower Drop-off at Main Building Lobby with access to the Bangkok Edition Hotel Sky Lobby, Sky Bar, and Retail Hill Terraces, entered from Narathiwas Road.
-Discreet and exclusive Residential Drop-off at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok Lobby entered from the public roads at the west side of the site.
-Retail Drop-off and taxi service at the Retail Cube entered from Narathiwas Road.
-Above-ground direct bridge connection from Chongnonsi Station to Retail Cube.

3D Tower Facade
-Individual private outdoor terraces with landscaping elements and sundeck for dining, leisure, and entertainment including plunge pools and sundecks, hot tub/ jacuzzi.
-Private Sky Box with three-sided floor-to-ceiling window walls and cantilevered living space.
-Custom-designed cassette curtain wall system with floor-to-ceiling window walls and operable bi-fold balcony windows” as well as secondary operable ventilation panels. (Bi-fold balcony windows feature glazing units that fold open inwards to the ceiling, providing an innovative and unprecedented conversion of indoor to outdoor space.)

The Ritz-Carlton Residences
The residences will start on the 24th floor of the tower, up to the penthouse Sky Apartments on the 73rd floor. Residences interiors are designed by David Collins Studio taking 21st century living and imbuing it with energy, while keeping it grounded in classical vocabulary. Size range from 125 square meters (1,350 square feet) to 830 square meters (8,930 square feet) and comprise a mix of two-to-five bedroom homes with ceilings up to 3.5m (approximately 11.5 feet) and floor-to-ceiling glass window walls providing expansive panoramic views.

-Club Lounge private facilities floor including private dining rooms with catering services, private screening rooms, and meeting rooms.
-F7 Exclusive resident facilities: Outdoor lap pool at 25m with six lanes, landscaped sundeck adjacent to pool, hot tub, and access/service to The Edition pool bar.
-Resident’s fitness center with yoga studio, steam rooms, and private changing rooms.
-Private boardroom, meeting rooms, and club lounge facilities.
-Media Lounge for private film screenings.
-VIP services including preferred room service, catering services and housekeeping.
-24-hour doorman, valet and concierge services.
-Onsite parking.

Hotel Amenities
The Bangkok Edition Hotel will offer a range of outstanding amenities, including a fitness center, spa, outdoor lap pool and sundeck, pool lounge/bar, private meeting rooms/boardroom, all-day dining restaurant, dance/nightclub and Sky Lobby. Hotel rooms ranging from generously-sized Standard rooms of 45 square meters (480 square feet), Loft units of 60 square meters (645 square feet), Suites of 70 square meters (750 square feet), and two Presidential Suites of 220 square meters (2,370 square feet), occupy from floors 7 – 18 of the tower above the Hill, with units featuring private balconies and terraces.

-Sky Lobby check-in on F6 with adjacent landscape terrace lounge.
-Signature Restaurant with world-class chef, VIP services including preferred room service, catering services, and reservations (TBD).
-Dance/Nightclub with VIP services including preferred seating and reservations (TBD).
-Hotel Mezzanine Bar.
-All-day dining restaurant.
-Outdoor lap pool at 25m with six lanes, landscaped sundeck adjacent to pool, hot tub, and pool bar.
-Spa/wellness center with private treatment rooms.
-Fitness center with yoga studio, steam rooms, and private changing rooms.
-Private boardroom, meeting rooms, and banquet facilities with adjacent catering kitchen,
-On-site parking with valet services.

Sky Bar
A multi-level three-floor Sky Bar and restaurant at the top of the building with dramatic double- height spaces, private dining facilities for entertaining, and a rooftop outdoor bar at 310m height with sweeping 360° views of the city and river.

Project Documentation
Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Beijing, China
Seventh Art, New York (computer renderings)
Frans Parthesius, Rotterdam, Netherlands (architectural model photography)

Brand Development
2×4 Inc, New York, NY
JWT Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand

Exclusive Sales and Marketing
PACE Development Company Limited, Bangkok, Thailand

Public Relations
Andrea Schwan Inc., New York
Hill & Knowlton Thailand Limited

Temporary Sales & Design Gallery
87/2 CRC Tower, All Seasons Place
45th Floor Unit 4, Wireless Road, Lumpini
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Permanent Sales & Design Gallery
Onsite sales & design gallery expected to open December 2009

MahaNakhon Tower Bangkok images / information from Andrea Schwan Inc.

MahaNakhon Tower : main page

Ole Scheeren

Location: Sathorn Road, Bangkok, Thailand