COUP DE CŒUR ♥

EMQUARTIER

The curves of the building provided a good link between architecture and interior design.
The first 3 levels of the shopping mall feature the most exclusive retail brand names, with an ellipse shaped rainforest chandelier (created by French botanist and inventor of the vertical garden concept Patrick Blanc) soaring up to 2 gourmet food courts. The 2 garden or park levels are located between those two parts, and we designed them to serve as a living link, as a story line.

The challenge was how to include a real, complete garden or park in an existing retail complex concrete building, giving the impression of nature taking over, in a controlled and manageable way, creating a unique shopping or dining or even life experience in the heart of Bangkok.

This was a really ambitious construction project that also included a new BTS (Bangkok Metro) station and a landscaped bridge linking this new Emquartier mall to another mall belonging to the client on the other side of the street.
The logistic of these projects was a real challenge, bringing and installing fully grown trees in a multi-level large size building in Sukhumvit required a lot of rigorous planning, organization and timing. It required to have the whole district closed to traffic every other night for construction cranes to bring the trees up. We were known to have worked on projects in other heavily regulated and sensitive locations like Paris and other European capital and this experience that we had on respecting strict deadlines was instrumental in the client’s decision to choose us for the project.

The water elements were also essential features of our park, building real ornamental pools along with the machinery, plumbing, water circulation and very crucial maintenance components.
Plants also need light, and the way light surrounds them impacts their growth, their health and also the perception that visitors will have of the plants…that’s another technical element to take into account and to plan for.

We collaborated with Indonesian and Thai craftsmen and women for custom made pots and decorative accessories, and with Patrick Blanc for the Jungle Chandelier.
While there are no permanent art pieces on display in this luxurious shopping mall – unlike what is done in most of the competitor’s retail complexes where iconic art works are used to confer a sense of unique identity to the venue – the owners decided to have 2 arts exhibitions per year and our garden levels needed to be ready to welcome art on these occasions.

Emquartier in Bangkok is now seen as a real lifestyle icon making a bold statement for reconnecting urban life with nature.

www.emquartier.co.th

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