This was a prime site in the centre of Bangkok. Formerly the Cambodian Embassy, it was bordered on two sides by parks, one being Lumpini Park and the other The Royal Bangkok Sports Club. It took a long time to arrive at the eventual design. Given its prime location, the client was keen to explore a wide range of design approaches.
The final design consists of what seem to be two 145 metre high towers which are actually joined at the pivot point, the central lift core. It was an exercise in breaking down the mass, resulting in an overall skyline that belied the building’s bulk, but also ensured that all the apartments have a park view. This process involved ‘cutting out’ those parts of the building which did not enjoy a view, resulting in all units becoming ‘prime’ units.
All the 256 units were large, ranging from 140 square metre 2-bedroom units to 300 square metre penthouses and duplexes, within the matrix of a flexible floorplate which allowed a range of different unit types. While the building presents itself as a glass box, in fact only 35% of the façade has actual windows. The remaining curtain wall is solid, with a colour back-pan detail that provides effective insulation without any loss of aesthetic appeal.
The site was small and the building only ever six metres away from the property line. This demanded a compact design. So, for example, the parking podium on the prime city-facing elevation has been given an innovative façade treatment of expanded metal screens, horizontal louvres and light-boxes to camouflage it. All the facilities are located under the footprint of the towers. Pool decks and support facil ities have been integrated to provide top-class amenities, while the building has a 4-storey entrance lobby.
This development has been awarded multiple recognitions.
Whizdom Connect
WHIZDOM CONNECT
This project is for local Thai developer, Magnolia, and responds to changing market conditions in Thailand. It is not in central Bangkok, but well-located near a railway station and appeals to local or commuter buyers, hence the units are predominantly highly compact studio and 1-2 bedrooms. The overall masterplan includes three residential towers, a retail mall, an office component and an experimental house. HB Design is responsible for the master plan for the three residential towers and is designing two of them. Once again the aim has been to contribute to a dynamic skyline and avoid the repetitive ‘cookie-cutter’ model. The towers are all different heights, not parallel to one another, but fanning out, slightly off-set, and centred around a circular radial pattern. Each tower is broken up into two volumes with the lift lobby as the fulcrum. In this way, what could have been a bulky tower become more elegantly vertical. Inside, the corridor lengths are shortened, being split into two sections by the central lift lobby, and open at each end to generate natural light and ventilation.
One of the challenges has been to design extremely compact apartments, which still feel spacious. Another challenge was how to integrate the external CDU units while maintaining the integrity of what is a very elaborate façade.
There is a strong green theme to the project, which is part of a strategy to provide residents with generous amenities to balance the relatively small units. There are landscaped sky terraces at the very top and suspended facilities at mid-building. Landscaped decks and extensive gardens form the base of the development. Which will, once all three towers are completed, become a consolidated landscape zone providing generous open space.
Site Plan
Typical Floor Plan
Luna
LUNA
Luna is a 10 villa project located on an inland site within the Laguna area. The villas are set within a 500m2 plot and designed so as to ensure absolute privacy, open plan living and a generous garden and pool setting.
The inverted pitch roof brings a dynamic form into the house creating a very open and well-lit relationship of the interior spaces to the surrounding gardens. The architecture has not attempted to embrace the vernacular, in terms of form or detailing, opting instead to relate to the tropical island context in terms of environmental responsiveness.
A feature spine wall, clad in local sandstone, runs through the house, guiding one from the car porch to the pool terrace on the far side.
Site Plan
Elevation
Floor Plan
Studio City
STUDIO CITY
The first commercial venture for HB Design, this was (like the Joyce Boutique) the result of an introduction from Hans’ brother, a banker in Hong Kong. A young group was trying to build a series of cineplexes in China called Studio City and HB Design designed this one for them in Wuhan and another one in Shanghai. Wuhan also involved an 800- seat Beijing Opera venue. It represented an early learning experience, not only about how such a business works, but also how the building industry works.
The driving element was the design of the concessions area as a path snaking through the middle of the floorplate. This was less a design decision than one determined by the location of the concessions (food outlets) which are crucial revenue generators in a cinema – “an exercise in commercial reality”. The curved walkway was separated from the games area by an undulating metal wall – weaving its way both in plan and vertically – with steel fins. Each fin was unique, cut to fit the panels Every fin was fabricated to match the curve and lit by customised lighting. This was “easy to design, but difficult to make” and succeeded by way of painstaking craftsmanship.
This was another early lesson in the fact that a design is only as good as the architect’s ability to get it made. Often fabrication challenges are met by lateral thinking and unearthing craftsmen whose skills can be adapted to a new need. In this case, the ceiling of the opera space was made by a local car body manufacturer, while the ‘moebius’ wall through the concessions area was hand-made (due to the lack of computer numerical control), panel by panel, with the perforations each drilled out by hand.
Joyce Boutique
JOYCE BOUTIQUE
In 1995 Joyce Boutique acquired the lower 5 floors of a Gio Ponti designed building dating back to the 1960’s. HB Design was brought in to refurbish this in order to accommodate 40’000 sqft of high fashion boutiques featuring some of the worlds best known designers such as Kenzo, Miu Miu and Prada.
The goal was to bring to the fore, once again, the elegant tapered beam structure designed by the Italian modernist. An entirely new servicing strategy was developed that featured integrated air-conditioning, custom spot-lighting and alcove lighting.
The central atrium was liberated from the excessive encrustations of the previous 35 years with a new staircase and backlit “skylight” as key features.
Kim Residence
KIM RESIDENCE
This project saw effectively the wholesale re-structuring of an existing 3-storey penthouse apartment. The new layout is centred around a steel and glass staircase, acting like a “chandelier” bringing light down from the rooftop terrace to the floors below.
The main living/dining areas are on the lowest floor with all of the bedrooms on upper floor. The master bathroom has been designed to take advantage fo the spectactular views of the bay below.
Another key feature was the repossession of the rooftop by reorganising the building’s common services, creating a second outdoor living area with stunning views out over Repulse and Deep Water bays.
Sheraton on the park
SHERATON ON THE PARK
HB Design was asked to refurbish the existing hotel’s somewhat stuffy and traditional restaurant, bar and lounge.
The result is a contemporary set of experiences centred around the hotels existing classical conservatory.
A glass and stainless steel bar is the highlight here, providing a new upmarket and trendy watering hole for Sydneysiders.
The restaurant was completely re-organized, placing the buffet counter and the open grill at its centre – treating the act of dining as theatre.
The relaxed and cosy lounge with custom designed fabric wall panels, oversized standing lamps and bamboo screens is a fitting counter-balance to the buzz of the restaurant and bar.
Starhub
STARHUB
This series of projects, 2 headquarters offices and the flagship store, was the result of an open competition won by HB Design in collaboration with architects HYLA.
The design proposal combined ‘high-tech” with “hi-touch”. Almost all elements were custom designed, from the typical workstations to the gull-wing uplights. A key concept was the introduction of informal meeting “pods” located within the open plan office landscape.
These were enclosed in cocoon shaped forms, a combination of plywood fins and lumasite (a composite of acrylic and fibreglass). Executive offices located along the perimeter feature extensive glazing to the central work areas.
Centro 360
CENTRO 360
Centro 360 was a restaurant and entertainment complex on top of the One Fullerton building on the edge of Marina Bay in Singapore. It consisted of a double-height entry lobby, a black box nightclub, a wine and cigar lounge and a 196-seat restaurant, all totalling 9000 square feet. It was seen as another opportunity to innovate, this time with a
big budget allowing for quality materials such as Indian Sandstone and ‘Tropical Walnut’. But it was also the opportunity to theatricalise the
hospitality experience, matching the drama of the harbour setting.
It proved to be ahead of restaurant fashion in making the kitchen a performance space, a glazed ‘fish bowl’, where the visual drama of cooking could be enjoyed without the noise and smell, separated from the restaurant by a full-height glazed partition.
The lobby, finished with a woven metal wallpaper, separated the wine bar from the restaurant and faced a double-height perimeter space featuring acetate images of natural landscapes by artist Andy Goldsworthy. The restaurant, divided into main dining, private rooms and a sushi bar, was designed around zones generated by a mix of banquettes, low partitions, open areas and a variety of seating modules. The restaurant had a simple slatted ceiling seamlessly concealing all of the services, including the air-conditioning and lighting.
The result is a variety of spaces ranging from public to intimate with diverse cross-views and glimpses of the theatre being played out around the restaurant.
185 Rajadamri
185 Rajadamri
This was a prime site in the centre of Bangkok. Formerly the Cambodian Embassy, it was bordered on two sides by parks, one being Lumpini Park and the other The Royal Bangkok Sports Club. It took a long time to arrive at the eventual design. Given its prime location, the client was keen to explore a wide range of design approaches.
The final design consists of what seem to be two 145 metre high towers which are actually joined at the pivot point, the central lift core. It was an exercise in breaking down the mass, resulting in an overall skyline that belied the building’s bulk, but also ensured that all the apartments have a park view. This process involved ‘cutting out’ those parts of the building which did not enjoy a view, resulting in all units becoming ‘prime’ units.
All the 256 units were large, ranging from 140 square metre 2-bedroom units to 300 square metre penthouses and duplexes, within the matrix of a flexible floorplate which allowed a range of different unit types. While the building presents itself as a glass box, in fact only 35% of the façade has actual windows. The remaining curtain wall is solid, with a colour back-pan detail that provides effective insulation without any loss of aesthetic appeal.
The site was small and the building only ever six metres away from the property line. This demanded a compact design. So, for example, the parking podium on the prime city-facing elevation has been given an innovative façade treatment of expanded metal screens, horizontal louvres and light-boxes to camouflage it. All the facilities are located under the footprint of the towers. Pool decks and support facil ities have been integrated to provide top-class amenities, while the building has a 4-storey entrance lobby.
This development has been awarded multiple recognitions.
WALK THROUGH
Front Elevation
Side Elevation
AWARDS
South East Asia Property Awards 2013
Best Condo Development
Thailand Property Awards 2013
Best Luxury Condo Development Bangkok
AWARDS
Peninsula Heights
PENINSULA HEIGHTS
The notion of houses in the sky, together with high quality common amenities and a striking composition of the formal constituents distinguish this project, the first in Bangalore for HB Design. The aim was to offer something special to the IT demographic of Bangalore, who typically search for something unique. The first stage in this strategy was to break with the standard height development and create a composition of a 100 metre high tower juxtaposed with an extended low-rise 40 metre block. The tower splits at the level of the garden roof terrace of the low-rise block.
The low-rise contains 4-bedroom apartments, which through a mirroring of the floor plan have a double-height terrace with reflecting pool and tree planter. The lower portion of the high-rise houses the 3-bedroom units whilst the upper portion features generous duplex 5-bedroom units. These double-height units feature stunning double-height living/dining rooms, fronted by delicately screened glazing and overlooked by a family mezzanine.
A gym, spa, function room and library are located at the point where the low and high-rise meet, separating the upper and lower levels of the high-rise. This indoor area connects seamlessly to the roof terrace of the low-rise block creating a generous area of elevated amenities for the occupants.
The design of the groundscape with its well-choreographed approach routes, drop-offs and pedestrian pathways to the various lift-lobbies, was crafted to create the experience of an elegant resort hotel. Similarly, the landscaping offers a special experience with two existing mature trees anchoring the gardens and associated pools, pavilions and decks.
Elevation
Details