BEC MD & AGDF President John Tuxworth recently revisited the Okura Prestige Hotel in Bangkok.
The hotel room interiors are elegant and crisp with an unmistakable Japanese aesthetic. Their compartmentalised spaces, hard furnishings & user interfaces reference the beauty of bento & ceremony of tea. Developed by Univentures PLC (a subsidiary of Frasers Property, who developed Central Park in Sydney Australia), the hotel has a Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Platinum rating, with sustainability features including e-coated triple-glazed windows, solar panels, it own potable water treatment system, and a host of other efficiencies help to reduce its carbon footprint.
John first visited the Okura in 2014 along with Todd Crighton (Buchan Group) at the invitation of Univentures, to present master planning concepts for Suan Lum – a 17 ha development in central Bangkok. BEC’s sustainability initiatives for the Suan Lum development included a UV treatment and air scrubbing system; structural use of cross-laminated bamboo (a rapidly replenishing sustainable timber resource); porous concrete pavements and bio retention spaces; a tri-generation plant; wind turbines; and photo-voltaic glass.
With detailed design completed by SOM, the Suma Lum project is now called One Bangkok and is Thailand’s largest fully integrated development. The project is to become the first LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Platinum project in Thailand and features a 430-metre Signature Tower – which will be one of ten tallest buildings in ASEAN.
John will no doubt visit the Okura again, & BE Collective looks forward to the opportunity to support Frasers on future projects.
