Best Tall Building under 100 meters Award of Excellence: Siamese Exclusive 31, Bangkok
Kajonsit Singsansern
CEO
Siamese Asset Public Company Ltd, Bangkok
Punpong Wiwatkul
Director
Somdoon Architects Ltd., Bangkok
Sun-Shaded and Serene in the City
Located in the heart of a busy residential area in Bangkok, Siamese Exclusive 31 delivers valuable green space into an area dense with condominiums, office buildings, and shopping malls. Offset from the main Sukhumvit Soi 31 road, the project’s peaceful location is enhanced by vertical gardens dotted with perennial trees planted along its balconies and pocket gardens for each unit. The balconies alternate across each floor, allowing the trees to reach their full height. Each home has high ceilings and a flexible layout, allowing space to flow continuously to the outdoor area. At the building’s top, four penthouse units occupy three stories, with stairwells forming vertical connections.
Expanded aluminum mesh is used in the building envelope; this strong, hollow material allows ivy plants to grow in its gaps, giving privacy to residents and providing natural shading and cooling. Other energy-efficiency concerns have been incorporated into the project’s design as well. Double-layered, low-E glass helps maintain the building’s insulation against direct sun, with an overall thermal transfer value of less than 30 W/m2. The greenery is maintained through a rainwater recycling system, and itself reduces heat transfer into the building by 2–4 degrees Celsius (35–39 degrees Fahrenheit). The air quality of the community is also enhanced via the project’s vertical urban green spaces, and an environmental impact assessment revealed that 1.4 kilograms of pollutants are removed from the air per tree each year.
