New high-end condominiums in Bangkok are increasingly smaller in size. Property developer CB Richard Ellis recently noted that well-located buildings in the Thai capital are seizing market share from older developments. This despite the fact that the new units aren’t as big as older ones.
Crucially, the new condos’ efficient interior design, it appears, is compensating for their reduced size. And buyers seem to be paying more attention to amenities rather than simply looking for large spaces.
How are interior designers, then, doing more with less space? The answer lies in the savvy use of well-chosen materials, the application of new technologies, and an overall devotion to ensuring that smaller spaces simply feel larger than they are.
“You have to make use of every nook and cranny,” says Theeranuj Karnasuta Wongwaisayawan, deputy managing director of Bangkok’s Interior Architects 49 Limited. “That’s the rule of thumb…you have to work with the space you’re given. Nothing can go to waste.”
Peter Skinner, principal at the Bangkok office of the international design firm HASSELL Limited, says that financial implications come into play, as well. HASSELL is currently working on condominium designs at Bangkok’s Sathorn Gardens, in addition to Pattaya’s The Lakes at Phoenix and other developments in Australia.
“Beyond the simple aesthetic trend of interior decorating, it is important, especially with the reduction in condominium sizes and the increasing baht per square meter, that designers offer clean, efficient, well planned designs,” he says. Doing so offers “greater livability through efficient space planning,” which is “probably the most significant value for money issue in condominium interior design. Even 10 square meters lost to inefficient design when you’re paying Bt90-100,000 per square meter becomes significant. In smaller apartments, multifunction areas and opened plan living is still the most effective way to maximize living spaces.”
Skinner also points out that new technologies are, more and more, being used in smaller condos. Smaller flat-screen televisions are replacing conventional TVs, and traditional stereo systems, which are typically larger in size, are losing out to computers that are “acting as multifunction entertainment hubs offering designers greater spatial freedom.”
Another issue is a growing sense of environmental awareness. Designers, according to Skinner, are already “incorporating such things as low energy light fittings, energy efficient equipment, and water saving fixtures into their designs.” Going forward, he says, designers “will need to look even more holistically at Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), taking into consideration such issues as airflows, filtration, and…materials that do not emit harmful toxins.”
Chalisa Nuhong, a project manager at Bangkok’s Space and Colors interior design firm, says that she and her colleagues use many practical strategies to make smaller spaces feel bigger.
“For smaller condos, we create an illusion of space,” she says. “We use concepts from Japanese design, where they live in smaller places. We create the illusion that less is more.” Many of her clients, she says, already have a specific design aesthetic in mind. They “would like to have a modern, or ‘Asian modern’ feel — a modern look with an Asian touch,” she says. Many of her clients prefer materials that can be purchased in Thailand; they’re especially interested in wood and rattan, and are attracted to an “Asian look but not necessarily a Thai look.”
Other materials, according to Khun Chalisa, can help create an impression of more expansive space. Mirrors help to open up smaller rooms. And so do special flooring materials. “Instead of wood floors, you can use ceramic tiles, which reflect the light a little,” she says. And near the windows, “you can lift a little of the ceiling and use some light to make the ceiling look higher.”
Khun Chalisa says that it’s important to emphasize a unit’s height in order to avoid a cramped feel. “In condos these days, the ceilings are quite low,” she says. “But when you look at the condo, you feel like the ceiling is high. We can’t change the size, but we can change the ceiling…sometimes in condos you can’t open windows or you can only open them a little bit, so you have to create an atmosphere that makes it feel like you’re not living in a box.” Overall, she says, it’s critical to use materials to open up spaces and “create an inside-out illusion.”
Peter Skinner, at HASSELL, agrees that rather than pertaining merely to decoration, interior design has a more profound effect on quality of life. And in Bangkok’s smaller high-end condos, this has taken on a new importance altogether. “While it is the aesthetic ‘style’ that catches most buyers’ eyes,” he says, “it is the deeper quality design issues that will have the most impact on their future happiness and health.”
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