At first, this striking building appears to be a visually arresting mansion or a museum. Upon further inspection, you realise that it’s a shopping centre. Linehouse, a leading architecture and interior design studio, redesigned the façade and interiors of the CentralWorld shopping plaza in Bangkok, Thailand. The refurbished mall’s new exterior structure and interiors draw from the natural landscape of the site where it is located. Inspired by the form of lily pads, which were once abundant around the site, the architects used their arched profiles to define the design narrative of the building’s façade and interiors. They utilised this arched form in varying sizes to craft an aesthetically pleasing façade. Additionally, this new retail design of CentralWorld offers visitors a distinctive immersive experience. When viewed from the inside, the arches help frame the lush green landscape outside.

This shopping centre is home to stores by local and international luxury brands and upscale restaurants and cafes. Linehouse’s architecture and design concept strives to embody the sentiment of finding peace in chaos. The façade design uses an urban palette of concrete and dark cement render, whilst the rhythmic form of the overlapping arches offers a sense of tranquillity. Upon entering the shopping plaza, visitors are welcomed by an expansive space with abundant natural light, offering a calming retail experience.

Founded by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling in 2013, Linehouse is an award-winning practice based in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Auckland. The studio works on a variety of projects, from restaurants and hotels to private homes and retail spaces. Several of their projects have a strong narrative thread woven into the design, often celebrating the site, the client, or the local culture.

The new structure's architecture and interiors reflect the history of the site. “CentralWorld is a renovation project, located in Bangkok. We redesigned the exterior façade and seven floors of public retail space. The design conceptually explores contradictions between the chaotic and peaceful nature of Bangkok. Located in an area once abundant in lily pads, we examined the stemming, radiating and circular profile of the lily pads, translating this into a spatial narrative of the exterior and interior condition. The result is a building that responds to its locality in form and materiality,” mention Mok and Hickling of Linehouse.

The new façade is in the form of concrete arches applied over the original structure. The existing perimeter skin of the building was treated as black render and a secondary skin in concrete formwork was applied to break the regular rhythm of the column structure. Openings were carved behind a number of the external arches to hold terraces and add visual porosity to the shopping plaza. "The design of the exterior is a double-layered arched façade, the front layer is defined by concrete formwork and the back layer is rendered in black. The arches stem in various heights and widths shifting on the two planes, creating interesting intersections which operate as framed views through to the interior. We punctuated the arches in moments to allow for green terraces to the food and beverage floors, providing a depth to an otherwise flat elevation, and blurring the boundaries of the interior and exterior spaces,” add the architects.

The designers refurbished the interiors as well evoking a sense of discovery and exploration within the visitors. The designers moved away from the design of conventional shopping centres to craft something distinctive and timeless. Additionally, by changing the way people feel in a space, they hoped to alter their shopping habits as well. Inside, a central atrium rises between the shopping levels, shifting as it climbs up to craft a network of overlapping ceiling planes. To support the moving planes, Linehouse added fin-like structures that branch out of the existing structural columns creating unique canopies evocative of the radiating and circular venation patterns of lily pads.

As visitors ascend the floors, the material palette changes from metal to natural materials such as wood and cane. “Upon entering the interior, white branched columns extend vertically through the atrium space, radiating out to create ceiling canopies. The void shifts through the seven floors, allowing for an overlapping and shifting ceiling plane. As one ascends, the ceiling plane treatment shifts in materiality, beginning with tech-tonic green metal grids, evolving to natural and tactile textures including timber trellis and woven cane ceilings. Creating a sense of movement from new to old world craft,” remark the architects.

The fourth level of the CentralWorld shopping plaza is a food hall. Here, arched windows of the façade frame views the verdant park outside. In addition, the designers incorporated biophilic design elements in the form of potted plants throughout the indoor space and the terraces. A subdued palette of natural materials and tactile textures including timber, stone and earthy materials in off-white further highlight the peaceful nature of the interiors. Furthermore, the refurbished CentralWorld building is a great example of environmentally sustainable architecture. “The design brings new life to a once uninspiring façade and interior. Rather than demolishing the existing building structure and shell, the design works with the existing, reducing its carbon footprint,” conclude Mok and Hickling.

Project Details

Name: CentralWorld
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Area: 27,000 sqm
Year of Completion: 2023
Client: Central Pattana
Architect: Linehouse
Interior Designer: Linehouse
Design Principal: Briar Hickling
Design Team: Cindy Pooh
Project Address: Rajdamri Road 4/1-4/2 CentralWorld, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Lighting Consultant: Inverse Lighting Design Co Ltd
Landscape Consultant: Landscape Tectonix Limited