Forest Pavilion at the Forestias – Living with Nature

Forest Pavilion is a welcome centre to greet residents and guests who will visit the Forestias project which is a mixed-use development in Thailand focusing on creating a happy community that is a Family and Multigenerational Destination. The objectives in the Forestias project are to dwell with the nature and to integrate four intergeneration community so it becomes a role model for sustainable development in Southeast Asia. Forest Pavilion concept was derived from how to create a place to welcome the community for family and multigeneration and how to ensure a comfortable microclimate as well as respect the long rich history of Thai vernacular architecture (Thai traditional house). Forest Pavilion has been designed to be sustainable and promote health and wellness design. The project utilises high performance building envelope with external shading to reduce the overall solar heat gain in order to reduce the overall cool load demand. Situated in the Forestias Masterplan which has a centralised chiller plant facility, the project utilised water cooled chiller system along high performance air distribution system to achieve over 25% energy savings when compared with ASHRAE 90.1-2010. Additionally, the project has installed photovoltaic panels on car park roof to cool down the car park area while generating the renewable energy for the project to use during the day time. To meet the low impact development goal, the project minimises the use of potable water by installing highly water efficient fixtures and all non-potable water demand are being supplied with an on-site stormwater tank. The project also installed an efficient ventilation system to bring in fresh air for all regularly occupied spaces. The project team sources both local materials and low emitting products to ensure good indoor environmental quality for residents within the Forestias and also outside guests to the Forest Heart. All regularly spaces have views to outside with abundant daylight which reduce the indoor electric lighting demand. Last but not least, to follow the Forestias mandate lighting guideline to ensure a calm natural environment, the project has been rigorously design to ensure light pollution reduction for all interior and exterior lighting design.