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Architects: Shma Company Limited
- Area: 2600 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Nawin Deangnul
Text description provided by the architects. Hop Park is a project that instantly creates a green space that requires low maintenance and makes the least change to the original structure. The space can easily ‘hop’ and adapt to different areas while tackling the problems occurring in the city.
Shma, in collaboration with Garnier, the leading skincare brand in the natural beauty industry, and Bangkok Metropolitan, has created a 550-square-meter park on the busy Patumwan skywalk. The project aims to show how green space can be a part of our daily life. This space potentially slows down the pace of life at this public transportation hub, provides meeting points, and creates a nice environment for that passerby. This space is a prototype that can be adapted to other areas later on.
Hop Park landscape design is divided into 5 zones. With around 20,000 trees, each zone is designed to make the most of the green space and fully enhance the user’s experience.
1. Green Air Zone: Bangkok is buried under dust and smoke. Several studies show green space can help filter out pollution and purify the air. Over a year, a tree can produce enough oxygen for two people, absorb 9-15 kilograms of carbon dioxide, and capture 1.4 kilograms of dust and pollutants.
2. Blue-Green Oasis Zone Plants, as well as green space, don’t only grow on land. Blue space is also a crucial part of the ecosystem. Water plants can help remove bacteria, filter water, and reduce water pollution.
3. Edible Haven Zone: Food and produce are getting more and more costly. In the era of ‘global boiling,’ food security has become a concern in many cities around the world. Edible green space tackles this problem by providing people with healthy and sufficient food. The space gives city dwellers a food source while encouraging them to grow their own city gardens.
4. Ecological Diversity Zone: Humans are not the only living creatures; animals and insects play important roles in maintaining the ecosystem. Plants in this zone provide animals with food, insects with sweet, juicy nectar, and all of these small creatures with homes.
5. Wellness Retreat Zone: Life in a big city forces people to always be in a rush to get to their destination, and they usually forget to notice the beauty around them. This zone invites people to sit down among greenery, take a break, and slow down. They can enjoy fragrance flowers that help them relax and recover after a long day. When the night falls, Hop Park lighting shines through, brightening the whole area and providing safety for passersby. ‘Projection mapping’ also adds more fun and color to the zone, making it a perfect leisure space for Bangkokians.
Hop Park: Instantly Green Everywhere is a pilot project that shows how a dull and dry space can be turned into a lush green space, giving benefits to the people of the city in so many aspects. Hop Park can hop around to other areas and instantly turn more gray spaces into more lush green spaces.
