Pyne by Sansiri

Our firm was commissioned to design a garden for Pyne by Sansiri, a high-end condominium. Located right in the middle of Bangkok’s busy urban district, just 5 minute’s walk from the biggest shopping malls, the site is also next to the BTS (Bangkok’s Sky Train) station. Although the location was superb from a commercial perspective, it was not a perfect site for living. Surrounded by three sides of buildings, including noisy nightclubs, even the convenient presence of the train station made the whole space look crowded. Our challenge was to create a pleasant livable environment for the residents, using landscape as the tool for a better quality of life for the city’s next generation.

The new building was trapped tightly among the surrounding buildings, and so our main task was to separate the project from its neighbors. To create a private space, separated from the busy outside world, we built a 3-meter-tall wall with planters on the top. From the outside, the wall appears like a normal straight white marble wall, but, looking from inside, the wall is changed into a curvy line to get rid of the boxy feeling space. We strategically located a green area behind the wall, in between the train station and the condominium. Rather than employ a typical functional garden, we planted an urban forest, with 10-meter-tall trees, to reduce the impact of the nearby station. Underneath the trees, our design team installed a series of small green “hills” all the way along from the boundary wall right next to the lobby. To maximize the soft surface, the hills undulate, so the residents can see more greenery than just a flat garden.

We avoided perpendicular lines in this project, and instead employed angled ones with round corners. Steps are integrated into the hills for an easier walk, dividing the hills into topographic patterns. To animate the forest, we designed some special sculptures, the Dearest Deers, as the inhabitants of the forest. On the flat area, a series of concrete pathways are orchestrated from one side to the other of the property. The contrast between green lawn and concrete paths creates a delightful visual for the residents who live above. 

The residential tower is constructed on top of the building’s parking structure. As the parking area has a bigger floor plan than the residential area, the leftover area is usually used to house the condominium’s swimming pool. Named The Pool @ Pyne by Sansiri, this is exactly the case, and here was placed on the roof the parking area, on the 8^th floor.

In order to get rid of that boxy feeling space, our first move is to create a “loose” floor plan. Instead of a typical rectangular pool deck, we proposed a series of smaller terraces integrated with the swimming pool. A series of green planters were also inserted here and there, combining all three elements, water, terraces and plantings seamlessly.

Most pools in Bangkok located on the roof top are called “Sky Pool.” While at first their novelty caused excitement, it soon wore off. Our task therefore was to design not only a pretty swimming pool but one with a unique landscape feature with a character that the residents could identify with.

In an effort to make this pool different to other rooftop pools, we framed the swimming pool three-dimensionally with a light cladded structure we nicknamed the “Skeleton.” Tin this way, passersby below would be able to recognize the presence of the pool, and the pool is now fully integrated into the architecture of the building. Not only are the swimmers able to enjoy the spectacular view afforded by the pool, but the BTS passengers can look up and see the special space inside the frame. At night, the “Skeleton” glows, giving the architecture some lightness it so badly needed in its crowded surroundings.