The Forestias - designed for healthier living

Designs have been released for a large residential project in Thailand that features a forest at the centre of it.

Located on the outskirts of Bangkok, The Forestias is touted as the world’s first town to have every aspect purposely designed for healthier and happier living.

The 64 hectare project was designed by Foster + Partners through its local entity F&P (Thailand) Ltd and ITEC Entertainment Corporation, with landscape architects TK Studio in Thailand tasked with designing the forest.

At the heart of the project is a forest, forming a relationship between nature and the built environment. Image credit: Foster + Partners.

Sunphol Sorakul, Partner and Director, F&P (Thailand) said in a statement: “Traditional Thai families often have strong intergenerational ties that are being strained due to the demands of urban life, with the younger generation moving to the city for work while the children and the older members of the family remain at home. 

“The Forestia’s masterplan takes inspiration from the layout of traditional Thai houses to create a contemporary interpretation in the form of a flexible community spaces, focussed on health and nature, that can expand and adapt as the needs of the family grow.” 

An elevated walkway gives residents a different perspective of their surroundings. Images supplied by: TK Studios

The site is divided into two zones with the northern areas containing more city level public functions, while  the larger southern portion is primarily residential in nature. 

At the heart of the site is the forest that the company says defines the essence of the development – showcasing the positive relationship between built and natural environments and a focus on healthy living in harmony with nature. 

Other popup green spaces include The Forest Pavilion, an exhibition centre with an elevated 1.6km trail weaving through the trees, allowing people to get up close and personal to nature.

“Having such a massive forest at this dense urban area is challenging,” TK Studio told Landscape Architecture Aotearoa. “ First, it is difficult to find that many saplings, so we did put extra efforts in contacting many softscape suppliers in Thailand. Second, we also have difficulties in transporting the large quantity of saplings.

The Forestias has been designed to address the growing disconnect between contemporary city life and family traditions in the country. Image supplied by: TK Studios

“Another challenge we have been facing is the expectation of visitors as they enter the Forest Pavilion. Since the majority of plants are young saplings at the eco forest, softscape does not look that mature at first place. Those saplings take years to grow and will eventually thrive as a mature forest-like landscape. So what we have been trying to do is to change the perception of people constantly, sending out the message that landscape is a living thing, the space and its plants grow along with time. 

“We also regularly record the growth of the forest through photography, and it is just amazing to realise how fast the eco forest has grown when looking at new batches of photos everytime.”

Lush greenery surrounds the entire development with a range of different planted areas offering a variety of experiences and functions within the forest. As residents and visitors travel through the site, they are surrounded by denser green spaces offering a sense of escape into an urban oasis. 

Smaller green spaces give residents a sense of being in an urban oasis. Image supplied by: TK Studios

The Forest Pavilion links the more public-orientated northern area of the site with the residential south, where a range of housing is available from high-rise to villas.

TK Studio says planting for the softscape began months before the Forest Pavilion was completed to ensure it looked inviting once the pavilion was completed. 

“Since Thailand shares the characters of the tropical climate, differences between the fast growing and slow growing trees are easily spotted,” it said. “At first phase, those fast growing trees will outgrow the slow growing trees, however, the latter will grow stronger and become more stable in the landscape as the fast growing trees die out, forming a real nature within the development.”

The project is expected to be completed by 2025. Image credit - TK Studios.

The project follows the Miyawaki eco forest techniques. Dr Akira Miyawaki is an internationally regarded botanist and forest ecologist who developed a method for growing naturally biodiverse forests that can outgrow and outlast monoculture forests, which are less sustainable in the long term. In 2006 he was awarded the Blue Planet Prize for his work, which recognises outstanding efforts in scientific research or applications of science that contribute to solving global environmental problems.

TK Studio says as the project adapts to Dr. Miyawaki’s eco forest techniques, the eco forest berms have “greatly succeeded in establishing the growth of healthy, fast growing saplings. Since the way the plants grow is adaptable to the future environmental challenges, the eco forest can shorten the growing time of a typical 30 years old forest to only 10 years, and the forest will require minimal maintenance after few years of establishment.”

The landscape design concept of Forest Pavilion embraces three objectives: planting the future of symbiosis with nature, immersing the wilderness, and balancing the human activities and the growth of an urban forest. 

“This dynamic landscape is a living paradise that will grow and evolve along with the current and future generations, and residents become a part of the evolving ecosystems, where they will have intimate connections with natural processes and memorable experience of the forest growth first-hand.”

Miyawaki’s eco forest planting technique is the landscape signature of TK Studio. It has applied the technique in many projects, including PTT Protection Strips and Buffer Zone, which is a series of landscape buffer design, surrounding the boundary of petroleum, gas and oil depots throughout Thailand; the award winning Metro Forest and Wangchan Forest. 

“Our projects bring numerous environmental benefits to the site and the local communities, and maximize potential for biodiversity and eco services for all users.

“We believe the success in the Forest Pavilion project and upon the future completion of The Forestias will lead the landscape design into a pioneering development among the industry, and spreading immense influence of our studio’s eco forest design to the construction industry.”

The overall Forestias project is expected to be complete by 2025.