Architectkidd’s design for Megapark is meant to be a kind of a “green scaffold”. The structure can accommodate vertical vegetation, and together with the planting and landscape design, forms an environmental filter between the interior and exterior spaces. The design allows for daylight and natural ventilation to permeate the building within a tropical climate.
The main material of the design is composed of 20cm x 20cm galvanized steel columns that are spaced 1-meter apart. The steel columns provide structural support for walkways, canopies, systems and program spaces. With the repetitive spacing, the goal was to avoid typical large-scale construction grids and systems needed for commercial buildings.
The use of steel was informed by local footbridges and pedestrian infrastructures found in Bangkok. Architectkidd and structural designers Aurecon transformed this precedent into an open framework and an integrated architectural and structural system to accommodate public activities and programs.
The steel frames create a natural rhythm of their own, with widths and heights of the frames gradually changing in a way that ebbs and flows throughout the site. The result is a new public presence that is coherent without being imposing. Instead, a fluid and more natural architectural approach is created that provides for more intimate spaces in a human scale.
For more details and information about this project, see Parametric Architecture’s article “Megapark: White Framed Shopping Centre” here.
Photographs of Megapark designed by Architectkidd are by WWorkspace, Ketsiree Wongwan and Panoramic Studio.
