When it comes to renovating a building, architects are faced with intriguing questions. "What elements should we preserve?" "How can we enhance the existing framework to create exceptional architecture?" "Should we draw inspiration from the original design?" They even ponder, "What was the rationale behind the former architect's choices?" These queries seek to understand the current state and guide the subsequent steps of the design process.
Enter VORA, a six-story retail office building situated along the bustling Rama 9 Road in Bangkok, Thailand. Initially lacking a distinctive identity, the structure yearned for a façade makeover to unleash its hidden potential. The ground floor housed retail spaces while the upper floors contained offices. As the façade directly faced the main street and highway, the clients sought to transform the upper floors into retail offices that demanded captivating displays and an eye-catching exterior to promote their businesses and products. The façade design aimed to allure pedestrians, stimulate activity, and boost store profitability.
While maintaining the building's spatial layout and structure, the façade design ingeniously integrated two zones: retail offices and the core, treated differently for visual distinction. The cores, located at both ends of the building, were adorned in bronze and silver, paying homage to the building's previous name and aiding navigation through color-coded vertical circulations. Prefabricated aluminum grills were chosen as the core's façade, allowing flexibility for adjustments to the existing structure on-site. The façade boasted a vertically arranged pattern that seamlessly blended the solidity of the core with the openness of the retail offices. Additionally, the prefabricated aluminum façade served as a buffer zone, separating air-conditioned and naturally ventilated spaces, as well as daylit and artificially lit areas.
Embracing creativity and adaptability, the retail office's façade embraced randomized window sizes and shifting aluminum grills. This design approach enabled tenants to display ever-changing, captivating window exhibits, while still maintaining a cohesive appearance for the entire building, unlike its previous incarnation. The renovation resulted in an awe-inspiring design that transformed the once-abandoned structure into an inviting and dynamic space for retail offices. Not only does it attract customers, but it also elevates their overall experience and enhances the quality within VORA.
