THROUGH THE USE OF GRID PARTITION SYSTEM, LOOKLEN ARCHITECTS OVERCOMES THE SITE’S CONSTRAINTS AND TRANSFORMS THE OLD OFFICE LOCATED IN SILOM NEIGHBORHOOD INTO THE 24-HOUR FITNESS CENTER CALLED SAM YAN GYM
TEXT: NAPAT CHARITBUTRA
PHOTO: THANUT SAKDANARASETH
(For Thai, press here)
Without the COVID-19, we would be heading towards our gyms now that we finish our office work. The demand for 24-hour fitness centers, in the COVID-19-free world of course, is rising and the entrepreneurs have been adapting their business models by opening smaller outlets for more customers’ convenience.
That’s why Looklen Architects have been assigned by the Sam Yan Gym to renovate the third floor of Liberty Square on Silom Road, into a 24-hour fitness center. Formerly an office space, this poses many design challenges. It’s only 3 meters from floor to ceiling and a large number of 1×1.5-meter building-support posts make this 860-square-meter space look even smaller.
Turning such restrictions into a key design framework, Looklen Architects make pathways and add specially designed partitions separating different groups of exercise equipments in the space among the posts.
1×1-centimeter steels have been attached to the partitions; in other words, they form open fences leading the customers, first, towards the reception area at the center of the gym before continuing to its different sections. This openness means airiness and continuity, at the same time providing considerable amount of privacy. These modular partitions can also be turned into chairs, benches, or multi-purpose spaces to display the gym’s items.
The steel structures covering almost the entire space also meet the project owner’s wish that this Silom outlet of Sam Yan Gym look different from others. Looklen Architects also use such a contrasting color pair as red and blue for these structures to add vibrancy to the space and to differentiate these lines from the horizontal space of black tiles and celing boards.
Many people opine this look more like a Thong Lor bar than a fitness center; on the other hand, it’s like taking a perspective design from a computer and putting it in an actual physical space. This Sam Yan Gym is thus a noteworthy interior design project as its one additional element has various functions and at the same time adds unique character to the project.