It was a terrific opportunity to unwind and socialize away from work. New friendships were made and the team spirit was further strengthened. Aside from the colorful parties and the great meals, there were also several team building activities and an exciting water volleyball tournament.

The project “Green SIEP with Royal Gracious Kindness” (initiate by the royal concept of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn) aims at planting 100,000 tree seedlings in its initial phase of creating the first ever man-made mangrove forest in the world. SL+A took their corporate social responsibilities seriously by diving straight into the task and planting one hundred seedlings.

Donal T. Coyne (third from left – front row), managing partner of SL+A, hoped that the team could return next year in support of the project and to see through the sustainability efforts of this activity.

Finished in just over twelve months at a cost of 9 Million THB, donated in part by Raimon Land with the support of other suppliers who work with this developer. Aside from Steven Leach who are involved as the architects of the project, engineering firms of Meihardt, NET and EEC Lincolne Scott, and contractors Bouygues Thai are also involved.

Here are a few excerpts from that interview:

When asked about the differences of working in Thailand and somewhere else like Hong Kong, he says “Every time you learn a new lesson, you learn a new lesson the next time round. It’s like 50 first dates. You learn the lesson, you design a solution around that problem, then you go to the next job and the solution doesn’t work. The solution that the tradesmen have produced on one job doesn’t carry over to the next job, because there’s no consistency. There are no trade schools here, there is no professional training, so there is no continuity of skill.”

His comment about adapting to the slower economy reads “We have done a lot of residential high-rise condominiums. We are building six or seven at the moment, but this year I think we are going to move back into interiors, because we have definitely seen a huge downturn in the last six months in architecture.”

His insight on the impact of new technology in the architecture industry was an eye-opener to our designers. “Unfortunately through extremely sophisticated software we can now produce amazingly realistic renderings, but we are still trying to build with the same hammer and shovel and untrained labour. So if anything, the delta between (design and construction) is getting wider. My worry about technology is that it allows people to envision the dream but it doesn’t empower the builders to deliver it any more professionally.”

Khun Somsak Jidmon recently passed the professional accreditation exam and joins the growing number of LEED AP’s who are part of the Steven Leach Group’s sustainable design team. There are several more members of our staff who are studying to take this same exam and we are hoping that they all pass.

Khun Somsak is a licensed senior project architect, who is also an associate and director of Steven Leach Architects here in Bangkok. He has been with SL+A Bangkok for over seven years and has been involved in a number of high-rise luxury residential projects. He is one of the architects instrumental in establishing the architectural design practice of SL+A Bangkok.

We have an excellent chance of winning the job as the initial meeting with the client was very positive and our design team was able to achieve all the initial client requirements. The good news is that there is a generous budget for this project, but the bad news looks like we might be paid in eggs.

After an impressive collaborative design presentation, headed by our Bangkok office, we were recently awarded the major renovation works for the Thistle Hotel in Jahore Bahru, Malaysia. Formerly a Hyatt Regency Hotel now under the ownership and management of the Guoman Group.

The project consists of the major renovation works on all the guest rooms and guest floors, with a substantial design makeover of all the important public areas. Given the strong architectural character of the existing structure and the restrictive budget constraints, the challenge to create a fresh look seemed daunting. Working with non-traditional materials and finishes, a deep rich color palette and feature lighting, our design was able to achieve the intents successfully and create a sophisticated contemporary look.

The USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system is a third-party evaluation and certification process for projects attempting to attain the highest standards in green building and environmentally focused practices. A LEED AP is an accredited professional who is able to organize and guide projects through this stringent process.

Our Studio Manager, Francesco Navarro, passed the professional accreditation exam and will be the first of several LEED AP’s in our office, who will become part of our sustainable design team. Mr. Navarro is an architect from Manila who has been with SL+A Bangkok for over ten years.

This milestone event is part of SL+A’s ongoing commitment to promote and encourage sustainability in design and environmental stewardship.

Our annual year-end get together was held at Blu-O Bowling, located on the top floor of MBK. The festivities began in the early evening with a delicious meal of traditional Thai fare, followed by an inspirational speech by managing director, Donal T. Coyne.

Ten lanes were reserved and ten teams were fielded by the office staff and a fierce, but friendly, competition ensued for several prizes. The grand prize included a DVD home theater and a 32′ television. The big winner, with an impressive high score of 285, was Khun Somboon Tanuwongviwat.

Everyone is looking forward to the next big event, even if no one can clearly remember everything that happened that evening because of all the alcohol consumed. It was a grand time for all and a really great way to celebrate the year.

BCI Asia, the publisher of FuturArc, aims to improve built environments by assembling the principals of Top Ten firms with green building academics and practitioners from around the world as we as representatives of large property development companies, engineering firms and building technology providers.

The presentation ceremony of “Top 10 Awards 2008” was held at Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok on March 18, 2008. The awards are for the 10 excellent leading architecture companies in Thailand of the year 2008, ranking by BCI Asia.

In collecting data on this year’s Top Ten, BCI Asia conducted about 300,000 interviews with architects, developers, engineers and contractors. Its research staff also followed tenders, visited sites and reviewed municipal records to ensure accuracy. The Top Ten winners had the highest accumulated value of active projects in their portfolios reported in BCI Asia’s e-bulletin/Landmanager service in the year to September 2007.

From picture

First left, Managing Director of BCI Asia Construction Information Co., Ltd., Mr. Jeerakit Thudsri presented “Top 10 Awards 2008” to Mr. Donal T.Coyne, Managing Director of Steven J. Leach Jr, & Associate Limited.

Right, Managing Director of BCI Asia Group, Mr. Thor Kerr