Designed by Creative Crews, Siamese Ratchakru is a mixed development project comprising of two towers; an office and a condominium. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the real estate market crashed. More than 10 years later, there was still evidence of abandoned construction sites around Bangkok, Siamese Ratchakru was one of them. In 2011, the government released an act to waive impeding regulations to allow these projects to be completed without compromising people safety.
Photography: Spaceshift Studio
The architect had to work with existing structural foundations and within the approved building footprint and height. With the office tower, existing footing prescribed its position close to the site boundary, thus disallowed opportunities for openings. As a response the architect carved into the block allowing multiple openings for natural light and ventilation. The arrangement afforded the opportunity for planter boxes and balconies leading to more appealing workspaces. In order to compensate for missing area carved from the block, parking is pre-planned to be more efficient resulting in a parking floor reduction, thus replaced with a condominium floor. Photography: Spaceshift Studio
For the condominium tower, the architect proposed cantilevered balconies, as the majority of units are small. The balconies are angled to direct views towards the city and away from the office tower in front. Restrictions of the prescribed column positions made for a relatively narrow co...