BANGKOK REPORT (Part I) FEBRUARY 2011 CONTENTS D Watch Café Shop & Café (Bangkok) Anantara Kihavah Villas Resort (Maldives) Waste-to-Energy Plant Architecture Proposal (Copenhagen, Denmark)
D Watch Café Project Overview To celebrate the 16th anniversary of the Trocadero Group opened a watch café, the first of its kind in Thailand, at Siam Paragon shopping complex. The retail concept is similar to that found in bookstores where there's a corner selling coffee and beverages, with the difference that at the watch café, refreshments are free. The store also has a watch clinic, which provides after-sale services ranging from basic cleaning and battery replacement to more complicated repairs. The D in the name refers to owner/ceo Dara-ratana Mahadumrongkul while also standing for daring, different and delightful. The watch store carries new arrivals and limited editions of leading brands Carl F Bucherer, Oris, Gucci, Grand Seiko, Orient, Issey Miyake and JSprings. Project Details 1. Type of Business: Watch store and café 2. Open Date: February 2011 3. Concept: Combination of a watch store and café. 4. Location: M Floor, North Zone, Siam Paragon, Bangkok 5. Watch Group: Trocadero Group 6. Website: www.trocaderotime.com
Location Map Siam Paragon shopping mall is conveniently located at Siam skytrain station (Central Terminal).
The white and bright décor makes it inviting to enter the watch café; on the right the area with teas and cakes.
The store has a contemporary yet classic interior design with comfortable couches where customers can wait while their timepieces are being serviced.
Part of the ambiance comes from the "dancing lights" technology on the wall, which can be adjusted to different colors to match guests' moods. The back wall is adorned with a picture of Switzerland.
Centerpiece is magnificent chandelier inspired by the inner mechanism of a watch.
Anantara Kihavah Villas Project Overview Anantara Kihavah Villas just opened this month on Baa Atoll, one of the Maldives islands. The resort consists of a collection of pool villas set directly on the beach, offering guests the ultimate in privacy and luxury. Project Details 1. Type of Business: Luxury beach resort 2. Open Date: February 2011 3. Location: Kihavah Huravalhi Island, Maldives 4. Room Rate: Starting at around US$ 400 per night. 5. Target customer: Affluent travelers going on a romantic holiday. 6. Hotel Group: Anantara Resorts by Minor Group; www.minornet.com 7. Website: http://kihavah-maldives.anatara.com
Location Map The Maldives consists of 1,190 coral islands of which only 200 are inhabited. Anantara Kihavah Villas are located on a tiny island about 35 minutes by seaplane from the main airport on the Maldives.
Layout of the resort. Baa Atoll is a secluded, private island with white sandy beaches and lush vegetation.
Overwater villa.
The open design ensures the space is ventilated from all sides to suit the tropical climate.
Pool villas have parquet wooden floors and infinity pools.
The resort has been designed in a Thai, contemporary style and has a somewhat colonial feel.
Waste-to-Energy Plant Project Overview Located in an industrial area near the city center, the new Waste-to-Energy plant will be an exemplary model in the field of waste management and energy production, as well as an architectural landmark in the cityscape of Copenhagen. The project is the single largest environmental initiative in Denmark with a budget of 3,5 billion DKK, and replaces the adjacent 40 year old Amagerforbraending plant, integrating the latest technologies in waste treatment and environmental performance. Instead of considering the new Amagerforbraending as an isolated architectural object, the building is conceived as a destination in itself and reflects the progressive vision for a new type of waste treatment facility. The roof of the new Amagerforbraending is turned into a 31.000 m2 ski slope of varying skill levels for the citizens of Copenhagen, mobilizing the architecture and redefining the relationship between the waste plant and the city by expanding the existing recreational activities in the surrounding area into a new breed of waste-to-energy plant. BIG beat out 36 international design proposals to win this project. Project Details 1. Project: Waste-to-Energy Plant 1. Open Date: December 2016 2. Client: Amagerforbraending 3. Location: Copenhagen, Denmark 4. Budget: 3,5 billion DKK (650 million USD) 5. Architect: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group 6. Collaborators: Realities:United (Smoke Ring Generator), AKT (Façade & Structural Consulting), Topotek 1/Man Made Land (Landscape) 7. Building: 95,000 sqm 8. Landscape: 90,000 sqm 9. Roof and Ski Slope: 32,000 sqm 10. Façade Area: 74,000 sqm 11. Administrative and Visitor Center Floor Area: 6,500 sqm
Location Map The energy plant is located in an industrial area near the city center of Copenhagen, Denmark.
The surrounding topography is sculpted by Topotek 1 & Man Made Land to form a park which offers informal sport activities in summer and winter. A path system throughout the park interconnects the whole site and creates good connections to the neighboring residential area.
From a distance, the entire building is wrapped in a vertical green façade formed by planter modules stacked like bricks turning it into a mountain from afar.
Views of the interior.
The slope is ecological using a recycled synthetic granular. Access to the slopes is via an elevator along the plant s smokestack providing views into the plant, giving glimpses of its internal workings finally reaching an observation platform 100m above giving sightseers an unobstructed view from one of the tallest structures in Copenhagen.
The smokestack is modified to puff smoke rings of 30m in diameter whenever 1 ton of fossil CO2 is released. These smoke rings will form due to the condensation of water in the flue gases as they as they slowly rise and cool, serving as a gentle reminder of the impact of consumption.
At night, heat tracking lights are used to position lasers on the smoke rings into glowing artworks.
Diagrams of the project