All eyes were drawn to the conspicuous, bridge-like home standing among the commercial booths at the recent Home and Garden 2010 fair at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

Called the Next Step, the house was designed under the concept of “modest living” by two designers, Savinee Buranasilapin and Tom Dannecker of local design firm Thingsmatter.

In an architectural design that causes the least possible disturbance to the environment, residents of the Next Step live close to nature without disturbing it with modern facilities or technology.

“Next Step is a celebration of the pedestrian movement,” said Ms Savinee. “We think what makes a good city, or a good fair, is not the quality of the buildings or booths that compose it, but rather the quality and interest of the movement it facilitates.”

The house is lifted off the ground, barely touching the earth at each end and inviting visitors to slip beneath it unimpeded. Ms Savinee explained that if a house has the same structure as a bridge, it will require fewer posts, saving energy and labour.

The interior is one large staircase, with its steps stretched to define the surfaces for daily life _ parking, cooking, eating, entertaining and sleeping.

Each space’s function is separated not by walls, but by a series of steps between them, beckoning visitors to climb to the next level and giving a feeling of moving from room to room.

Steps are also stretched to serve as definitive furniture elements such as countertops and cabinets in the cooking areas, while the eating table is a section of floor cantilevered from the entertaining area.

Ms Savinee said the design is intended to raise awareness that it does not necessarily take an extravagant design to make a comfortable home.

“We want people to ask themselves if they really need a big, heavy house filled with furniture they won’t use or whether they really need to cut up their homes into tiny air-conditioned rooms and seal themselves off from the outdoors,” she said.

Ms Savinee said the use of green technologies such as solar panels may be less significant than only a little adjustment in people’s thinking and behaviour.

“Some visitors to our exhibition house still say they wonder how they can install an air-conditioner in it,” she said. “But it makes more sense if we adjust our behaviour to reduce the use of energy rather than turn to green products that also consume materials themselves.”

Ms Savinee said that all too often a design is perceived merely as another product or object.

“It was quite encouraging to see so many people at the fair show great interest in the design aspect and the message conveyed,” she said. “I don’t consider myself a ‘green architect’ in any extreme sense, but in the consciousness of every designer should be a minimal design.”

Source : bangkokpost.com

Listed developer Sansiri Plc has expanded its product line to commercial residences with its first project launch worth 600 million baht.

B-Avenue Watcharapol, located on Sukhapibal 5, comprises 146 units and features both modern shophouse units and home offices.

Of those units, 93 are shophouses and 53 units are home offices. The shophouse has 3.5 storeys and a usable area of 178 square metres, priced from 3.59 million baht to 5 million baht.

The four-storey home office has a usable area of 240 sq m, priced from 4.35 million baht to 6.25 million baht.

Metha Angwatanapanic, Sansiri’s executive vice-president for business development, said commercial residences are in high demand and offering these types of units would tap a wider segment.

The project has pre-sales of 40 units and sales officially open next year.

Sansiri has recorded pre-sales of 24.7 billion baht this year, just below its target of 26 billion, he said.

For the nine-month period, it recorded 825.46 million baht of consolidated net profit, down from 1 billion baht in the same period of 2009, on total revenue of 11.98 billion baht, compared with 11.1 billion last year.

Its net profit for the third quarter was 247.9 million baht, down 50.6% year-on-year from 502.2 million baht, on total revenue of 3.47 billion baht, a decrease of 23.2%.

SIRI shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 5.60 baht, down five satang, in total trade of 11.44 million baht.

Source : bangkokpost.com

Property Perfect Plc (PF) predicts 50% growth in sales next year to 15 billion baht from 10 billion expected this year.

The listed developer plans to launch 15 new projects next year with an investment cost of around 16 billion baht, of which 3 billion would be spent acquiring land for future development, said chief executive Chainid N. Sirimanee.

Next year, PF expects to have a total of 40 projects on the market, about 60% of them will be low-rise projects, 30% condominiums and 10% dormitories.

The company this year projects around 10 billion baht of revenue with a 33% gross margin. It has a sales backlog of 3 billion baht, of which one-third would be realised within this year.

Mr Chainid said PF planned to issue debentures worth up to 4 billion baht next year as its business required around 8 billion baht for construction.

The company will also set up a property fund worth 2.5 billion baht with a goal to offer a 6% return. The underlying assets for the fund will be three dormitories under Uniloft in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Mr Chainid said new mortgage lending curbs announced by the Bank of Thailand, mainly to dampen speculation, would affect lower-end homebuyers. He believes the government should have some measures to help people acquire first homes but control purchases of second or third house.

Property Perfect posted 61.1 million baht in net profit in the third quarter, down 26.3% year-on-year, on revenue of 1.77 billion, up 27.9%. Its nine-month net profit rose to 406.57 million baht from 264.88 million the previous year.

PF shares closed yesterday on the SET at 4.26 baht, up six satang, in trade worth 1.62 million baht.

Source : bangkokpost.com

Amid worries about the condominium market, two new projects will be launched in the Sathorn area this month with a combined 202 units, mostly large ones targeted at families and foreigners.

Both are being developed by long-established firms _ one has built other condominiums nearby, while the other has focused on single houses and townhouses in Bangkok’s outskirts and the surrounding provinces.

The Maple Sathorn is being developed by the Baan Boonsiri Group, which earlier had four low-rise projects worth a combined 450 million baht in Prachin Buri, Rayong, Nonthaburi and Bangkok.

Supreme Team Co Ltd is developing its Parco project with 148 units from 63-229 square metres priced from 96,000 baht per sq m on two rai located on Nang Linchi Road.

The Parco project has already booked presales of more than 30%, said Watana Charoensakwatana, the Supreme Team’s deputy managing director.

Worawan Tuchinda, the managing director of St Louise Development Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Baan Boonsiri Group, said The Maple Sathorn is the group’s first condominium development.

The company bought a disused 10-year-old serviced apartment building early this year for 200 million baht and spent another 50 million baht to renovate it into condos to be sold for more than 300 million baht.

“If we were to start the project from scratch, we’d have to spend up to 400 million baht to develop it on a similar scale,” said Ms Worawan.

The project, with 54 units, is located on 500 square wah in Soi Narathiwat 10, where land prices now start at 300,000 baht a square wah.

Unit sizes range from 60-200 sq m priced from 59,900 baht per sq m, cheaper than other offerings in the neighbourhood priced from 80,000 baht.

Target groups are families, parents of students at nearby schools and people working in the Sathorn area.

The Maple Sathorn has sold 30% of the units, mostly large ones.

Ms Worawan said the new requirement capping loan sizes has affected the condominium market. Her company is waiting to see if any more measures are coming, and if so, what further impact they will make.

“If new measures result in no or minimal changes, we’ll proceed with future condo development. But if they worsen the situation, we’ll switch to townhouses or home offices instead,” she said.

The Baan Boonsiri Group plans to launch at least two low-rise projects a year, as condominiums take longer to complete. It has a one-rai plot in the Sutthisan area that may be developed into condos or townhouses. A decision will be made next year.The company is also in talks with landlords to buy a six-rai plot in the Meng Jai area, off of Ratchadaphisek Road, for 100 million baht to develop 70 townhouses worth 300 million baht.

Source : bangkokpost.com

After restructuring and cutting back expatriate staff and overhead costs, Raimon Land Plc is poised for a revival in the property market next year by shifting to Thai buyers and downsizing new projects.

The listed developer plans to launch two or three new condominiums worth 10-20 billion baht a year, and to turn a profit in 2011 after three years of losses.

The company had struggled in the past two years as foreign buyers, its main target market, were absent because of the global economic and financial slump, the local political crisis and crackdowns on nominee structures to acquire property.

CEO Hubert Viriot said the company brought in a new team of Thai staff to replace expatriates in order to sell to Thai buyers who showed strong demand.

“We were back on track before launching [the luxury condo] 185 Rajadamri,” he said yesterday. “Our new projects will have design that meets local demand in high-end segment.”

Currently, 70% of its total sales are to Thai buyers and 30% to foreigners. Seventy-two percent of its new buyers of current projects in the third quarter were Thais, up from only 4% in last year’s first quarter.

It also reduced regional staff in Pattaya and Phuket in line with fewer projects, reducing overhead costs by 33%.

As well, the company has shifted from mass-market advertising to focus more on direct targeting. Compared with 2008, advertising expenses are down by 72%, selling, general and administrative expenses by 55%, and monthly administrative expenses by 44%. Its annual marketing budget has been reduced from 14% of sales to 2% in line with the industry.

New projects will be also downsized from plots sized up to six rai to between two and four rai, while unit sizes will be smaller to meet Thai demand.

In January, it plans to launch the 2.8-billion-baht Zire Wongamat condominium on a five-rai plot in Pattaya, comprising 480 units priced from 70,000 baht per square metre. Tisco Bank is financing around 1 billion baht for the construction.

To date, Raimon has recorded presales of 4.1 billion baht and aims to have five billion by year-end. It has three projects with available units worth a combined 14.6 billion baht.

They are 15-billion-baht The River with 30% remaining, the 9.6-billion-baht 185 Rajadamri with 74%, and the 5-billion-baht Northpoint in Pattaya with 30%.

The company yesterday reported a third-quarter net profit of 24 million baht, down 85% year-on-year from 149 million baht, on revenue of 729 million baht, down 31% from 1 billion baht.

However, it had a nine-month loss of 229 million baht, compared to a loss of 55 million in the previous year, on revenue of 2.1 billion baht. It expects a lower loss by the end of the year.

Raimon shares closed yesterday on the SET at 47 satang, up 2 satang, in trade worth 3.7 million baht.

Source : bangkokpost.com