Budget: THB 18 billion (USD 515 million)
Site: 15,000 m2 in Central Business District
Program: Total 150,000m2. Tower: residences 67,000 m2, residential amenities 4,400 m2, hotel 16,600 m2, hotel amenities 11,600 m2, retail 5,900 m2, sky bar 3,500 m2, MEP 5,200 m2, parking 10,400 m2; Retail Cube: retail 9,000 m2, MEP 1,000 m2, parking 5,400 m2; Offsite Parking: parking 8,300 m2, back-of-house (hotel) 1,700 m2
MahaNakhon Tower buildings:
Main Tower Height: 310m, 77 floors (+1 below), 39 x 39m
Hill Terraces at Base Height: 36m, 6 floors, footprint 62 x 86m
Retail Cube Height: 37m, 7 floors (+4 below), footprint 32 x 43m
Offsite Parking Height: 27m, 8 floors (+1 below), footprint 32 x 50m
Partner in charge: Ole Scheeren
Associate: Eric Chang
Project Manager: Tim Archambault
Team: Giannantionio Bongiorno, Sirichai Bunchua, Sean Hoo Ch’ng, Darren Chang, Steven Y.N. Chen, Dan Cheong, Ryan Choe, Timothy Clark, Mitesh Dixit, Paola Mongiu, Joseph Tang, Shuo Wang, Xinyuan Wang; With: Chen Chen, Harvey Chung, Charles Curran, Jasmin Delic, Minqi Gu, Jerome Haferd, Zachary Heineman, Pengfei Liu, Anya Yan, Lichen Zhu
Executive Architect: PACE Development Co., Ltd
Structure & Services: Arup, Beijing / Hong Kong
Façade: Front Inc., New York
Lighting: Isometrix, London and Hong Kong
Retail Consultant: Husband Retail Consulting, Hong Kong
Vertical Transportation: Arup, Beijing
Project Management: PPS, Bangkok
Seismic and Wind Engineering Testing: CPI, Bangkok
Brand Development/Graphic Design: 2x4 Inc, New York; JWT Thailand, Bangkok
Residences: The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok
Hotel: Bangkok Edition Hotel by Marriott International in collaboration with Ian Schrager
Project Documentation: OMA, Beijing; Seventh Art, New York (computer renderings); Crystal CG, Beijing (computer renderings); Frans Parthesius, Rotterdam (architectural model photography)
La Mahanakhon Tower è un grattacielo di 77 piani nel cuore del Central Business District di Bangkok. Si tratta del più ambizioso complesso di architettura contemporanea e di urbanistica della Thailandia, nonché dell'edificio più alto della capitale.
L’area di sviluppo, più di 150.000 metri quadrati, sarà composta da: Mahanakhon Square, una piazza pubblica paesaggisticamente d’effetto; le MahaNakhon Terraces, un centro commerciale di lusso di 10.000 mq con sontuosi giardini e terrazze che si svilupperà su più livelli con ristoranti, bar e un mercato aperto 24 ore su 24; il Ritz-Carlton Residence a cinque stelle con 200 appartamenti straordinari, ognuno dei quali con skybox; The Bangkok Edition, un hotel firmato con 150 stanze, frutto della collaborazione tra Marriott International e il rinomato hotelier Ian Schrager; uno sky-bar e un ristorante in copertura con ampie viste a 360° sulla città, a 310 metri di altezza.
Con il suo caratteristico aspetto scultoreo, MahaNakhon è stato accuratamente “scolpito” introducendo una sorta di nastro tridimensionale di 'pixel' architettonici che circonda l’intero perimetro della torre, come se si fosse scavato nelle eleganti facciate in vetro per mostrare la vita interna dell’edificio. Quest’area è composta da un insieme di skybox, parallelepipedi in cristallo aggettanti con ampie vedute e generosi spazi interni ed esterni con piscina e terrazze di grandi dimensioni – tipologia non comune per una metropoli, ma adatta al clima tropicale di Bangkok.
Il 'pixel' sono stati progettati per massimizzare gli affacci panoramici per le residenze, che offrono tutte viste a volo d’uccello sulla città e sul fiume Chaophraya. Allo stesso tempo, i residence situati nella zona non pixellata della torre godono di una innovazione assoluta per un grattacielo: le unità a un piano e quelle duplex posseggono ampi soggiorni a doppia altezza con finestre-balconi a tutt’altezza che, ripiegandosi verso l'interno, consentono di aprire completamente gli spazi interni vivendoli come se fossero esterni.
Alla base del MahaNakhon, che con terrazze e giardini degrada gradualmente verso terra, vi sono spazi commerciali, di intrattenimento e una zona di verde lussureggiante, una sorta di oasi urbana, che offrirà riparo dall’intenso clamore della grande Bangkok.
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.
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.
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.
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 7-storey 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 forms a natural valley, offering a network of social spaces with an extensive and carefully selected mix of dining and leisure facilities that serve the general public via a direct above-ground pedestrian link to the main CBD Skytrain station and plaza-level access, The Ritz-Carlton Residences in the main tower of MahaNakhon, as well as guests of The Bangkok Edition Hotel.
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.