MahaNakhon / Buro Ole Scheeren / Bangkok

King Power MahaNakhon

• Architects:  Buro Ole Scheeren / OMA Group
• Location:  Bangkok, Thailand
• Client:  PACE Development & Co. Ltd.
• Status:  Commission: 2008/2012  Completion: 2018
• Type: Mixed-use, High-rise
• Project Area:  150,000 m2
• Program:  Tower Residences 67,000 m2, Residential Amenties 4,400 m2, Hotel 16,600 m2, Hotel Amenities 11,600 m2, Retail 5,900 m2, Sky bar 3,500 m2, MEP 5,200 m2, Parking 10,400 m2, Retail Cube: Retail 9,000 m2, MEP 1,000 m2, Parking 5,400 m2, Offsite Parking 8,300 m2

MahaNakhon is a new 77-storey high-rise complex located in Bangkok's Central Business District, with a direct link to the Chongnonsi BTS Skytrain station. The development of mote than 150,000 square meters is comprised of a landscaped public plaza; a multi-level retail centre with restaurants, cafes, and 24-hour marketplace; 200 serviced apartments operated by the Ritz-Carlton; the Bangkok Edition, a 150 room boutique hotel in collaboration with Marriot International and Ian Schrager; and a rooftop Sky Bar and Restaurant. MahaNakhon is the most ambitious complex of contemporary architecture and urbanism in Thailand and the tallest building in Bangkok.

The design of MahaNakhon dismantles the typical tower and podium typology, creating a skyscraper that melds with the city by gradually 'dissolving' as it flows downward to meet the ground. A series of cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at the base of the tower accommodates retail and entertainment facilities, evoking the shifting protrusions of a mountain landscape. 

An adjacent freestanding seven-storey building - the "cube" with corresponding terraces creates an expensive outdoor atrium - forming a valley and network of social, dining, and leisure spaces that serves the residences and the public. MahaNakhon Square, at the front of the tower, is designed as a dynamic public plaza, a spot for planned and spontaneous cultural events, a landscaped retreat for the city's inhabitants, and a rare venue for cultural and social interaction.

MahaNakhon Tower has been carefully carved to introduce a three-dimensional ribbon of architectural pixels that coil up the tower's full height to reveal the inner life of the building. This generates a set of specific features - projecting glass sky-boxes with sweeping views and generous indoor/outdoor spaces - uncommon to high-rise living, but well-suited to the tropical climate of Bangkok. The pixels have been designed to maximize unobstructed panoramas and offers rare birds-eye views of the city and Chaophraya River. 

Residences located in the non-pixelated area of the tower enjoy a parallel innovation: double-height living spaces equipped with multiple bays of full-height bi-fold balcony windows - sections of facade that fold inwards and upwards - transforming living areas into indoor/outdoor environments. The top of the tower houses a three-floor Sky Bar and restaurants with double-height spaces and an outdoor rooftop bar with 360 degree views, floating 310 meters above the city.

The components of MahaNakhon are broken down as follows:

1. Tower lobby with segregated zones for Residences, Hotel, and Observation Deck and Sky Bar.
2. The MahaNakhon CUBE occupies 5,000 square meters.
3. The Edition Hotel, with 159 rooms, occupying floors 9-18.
4. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bangkok, with 207 units, occupying floors 23-73. Standard "Residences" comprise floors 23-54, with larger "Sky Residences" taking up floortes 56-73. A full single floor of facilities for residents only is on the 7th floor, and The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge for residents is located on the 54th floor.
5. The Sky Observation Deck occupies floors 74-75, and the Sky Bar occupies floors 76-77.