
CentralPlaza Chaengwattana
In addition to changing the exterior of Central Chaengwattana Shopping Center to be more modern, the original facade had to be addressed urgently, as it was deteriorating and falling off. It was a red line covering the entire front of the building, where the material is acrylic, covering the lights, attached to the building with a steel structure. Over time, the acrylic itself began to deteriorate, but the steel structure remained strong and could not be demolished because it would directly affect the building. This lead to the challenge, presented by Central Pattana to Vaslab, to design the lines of the new facade in accordance to the original structure as much as possible.
Due to budget constraints, Vaslab decided to design the building’s enclosures in two styles. The first pattern is a pixelated painting, interpreted by the word Chaengwattana (which means sun) using seven reddish shades of sunset on the building. The building was repainted in a triangular pattern and randomized gradient, to make it appear more three-dimensional. This triangular pattern is created by using the original window scale to determine the gridline, and building dynamics are created by designing the direction of movement of the pattern. The front end of the building flows to the high-rise part behind it, and eventually dissolves.
In the second style, the facade installation is made of aluminum cladding materials. It has a triangular pattern in the same design direction. There are 4 patterns and 45 pieces, using the same shade of red as the repainted area. It also uses a special support structure designed to attach to the steel anchors that are the structure of the old façade, including hidden lights inside to create a beautiful lighting at night.
Budget was the biggest challenge of the project. We achieved the results of the facade by reusing parts of the old structure, and bringing in the context of Chaengwattana to convey a story using the red colour gradient. This project therefore perfectly expresses the fusion of the