After 30 years Laem Chabang deep seaport has grown into phase 3 of development. Port Authority of Thailand has offered a plot of land at the mouth of Bang Lamung canal to be a strategic development space for thirty-nine local communities in the area. It will provide a place for recreation and economic opportunity for the people. It consists of a community center, sports facility, football stadium, health park along with a local fisheries dock, fish market, and tourist market. One of the attractions is a conservatory looking out to the container ships that are dock in the port. It also provides the view to the shore of Pattaya, the most famous city in the eastern region of Thailand.
Sandy ground on the sites allows only a few varieties of plants to flourish. The weather is sweltering from the gigantic concrete covered yards and roads of the docking port that accumulates an enormous amount of heat. The sea is bustling with a commercial fleet exporting industrial products to gain income to the country. World-class tourist cities such as Pattaya and Sriracha are in a short distance from these local communities that subsist with fishery and shellfish raising around the mouth of Bang Lamung canal. Old culture seems fragile to change compared to its neighbor economic superiority, more modern society, and with greater chances of making a living. These comparisons affect individual behavior at different levels. These diverse contexts are project concerns and design concepts.
Shade for the livings is the guideline for designing this project. Pools were dug to collect water that adds moisture. Brackish water plants are preferred. Stay green all year round as if the project is a community forest. To reduce the temperature in the area as much as possible all architecture will depend on natural mechanisms of the ecosystem that will lower energy usage and maintenance cost. New structures are scaled back to related to the small scale of the existing residential community. Buildings and space that intrigue people to post questions in the age of inequality.
Thailand and other countries have experienced serious problems of healthcare, economic and social from the Covid-19 epidemic of 2020. The 55 Rai Sustainable Market project is a quick social response at the community level. The development will start creating jobs and income early from the start of the construction by worker employment and usage of locally produced materials. When complete, the project will become a tourist attraction and community center generating income and also improve the quality of life. It is also a showcase for the development of sustainable projects in terms of design and protection of the environment.
* 55 rais equal to 8.8 hectares