25_Elephant Playground & Reserve, Patong
Location: Patong, Thailand
Project Year: 2020
Project Team: Christoph a. Kumpusch, Krishna Shrestha, Xindi Wang, Yuheng Wu
35,000 SF
Engineering: Meinhardt Group Singapore
Developer: IEG Pvt. Ltd.
In the deep forests of Thailand, Forward-slash ( / )’s eco-friendly and fully off-grid Elephant Playground & Reserve is making human actions and interactions with our natural and built environments as #responsible , #equitable and #energy conscious as possible.
The development is #community run with equity held by a diverse group of stakeholders including the very farmers that tended the property for decades, which it provides #housing for. The structure loops around eighteen water holes, designed as pools to simultaneously be used by humans and elephants inviting an engagement at both human and non-human scale. As the structure unfolds and dips into the landscape, it invites visitors to explore variations of a system that redefines #accessibility and #adaptability to nature. Three panorama spaces provide local cuisines to be cooked in either a street-style or farm-setting, scattered among the pools and circulatory spaces. Baan Rim Bha, a multi award winning local restaurateur will provide a farm-to-table experience driven by local produce, labour and an experience to be fully embedded in the food it serves. 28 boutique rooms, all completely open-air and individually designed with local artists, will fund the operation of the on-premise elephant sanctuary. The combination and interstitiality of spaces are defined by three criteria:
• built insertions in the landscape
• biomimicry principles of sustainable design
• communal occupants and activities
