MQDC to build world’s first town purposefully designed for healthier, happier living at The Forestias Bangkok
11 December 2019
•Increases investment, expands project size to Bht 125,000 million
•Becomes Thailand’s largest ever private sector property development project
•First project in world to put a forest inside a development project
‘An Enchanted Community District in the Forest’
Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC), one of Thailand’s leading property developers, today, announced that it is boosting investment in its 300-rai The Forestias development on Banga-Trad Road km 7 in the Eastern Economic Corridor, and expanding the project size from Bht 90,000 million to Bht 125,000 million to make it a new, global prototype for a town development. The increased investment makes The Forestias the largest property development project in Thailand.
The project land size is also increased by 98-rai to be 398-rai.
Mrs. Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp, Chairperson of MQDC, said, “We are building the world’s first town that is purposefully designed for healthier living.”
“It is being designed and built by some of the world’s most respected experts as well as leading global institutions to ensure that every aspect promotes a better quality of life. The design has been commended by Professors at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a visionary initiative,” she said.
She said that MQDC increased its investment in The Forestias “after receiving very good feedback from global partners, which has encouraged us further along the road of creating a new type of development that is completely focused on the well-being of residents, the surrounding community, and to sustainability.”
Among the most extraordinary features of The Forestias is a massive, seedling- and sapling-planted 30-rai forest area at its centre, anchoring a diverse and rich ecological system that will develop and evolve naturally in the years ahead.
Mrs. Ahriyavraromp said, “It is also the first time, anywhere in the world, that a forest of this size is being integrated into a city development to bring nature back into an urban setting, and which is one of the reasons why we call the development an enchanted community district in the forest.”
The Forestias includes multiple residential components with villas and condominiums aimed at a diverse range of lifestyles and family sizes, as well as commercial space for offices, a sports complex, lifestyle activities, retail and food & beverage outlets, as well as family edutainment facilities in a Family Life Center.
There is a town centre for community activities and cultural pursuits, a theatre, an event hall, markets, and also a 1.6 kilometre elevated walkway that links many of the development’s components and provides a ‘nature-walk’ that weaves above the forest at the centre of the development.
Other pioneering components that are being integrated into the town for the first time in Thailand is a residential area that is specifically designed to make life safer and more convenient for the elderly, including specialised facilities for daily activities, a clubhouse, and trained care-givers.
There is also a 5-star hotel and a large medical centre with state-of-the art facilities and some of Thailand’s most eminent medical specialists.
Mr. Kittiphun Ouiyamaphun, Project Director-The Forestias, MQDC, said, “Everything at The Forestias is designed with a common purpose to promote the good health and happiness of residents to a level never before undertaken, including the layout of the public spaces, home layouts, choices of materials used inside and outside homes, the integration of 21st century life technologies, the management of natural light, noise, heat, airflows, as well as air quality and water quality.”
He said, “Research clearly shows that one of the most essential components promoting a healthier, happier life is the proximity of people to members of their family and loved ones.
“Among the most important innovations at The Forestias is the way we bring families closer together across multiple generations through carefully planned residential components located around The Forestias. They are designed specifically for the needs of particular age groups, whether they are first jobbers, newlyweds, young families, or older parents, and allow them to live close to their children and grandchildren, or their parents, while still allowing each to maintain their independence and privacy.
“We also aim to help people get closer to the diverse wonders of nature as one of the most important sources of comfort and relaxation,” Mr. Ouiyamaphun added.
He said, “The unprecedented cultivation of an immense forest at a cost of more than a billion baht is the centre-piece of our development. It is comprised of an area that is a genuine ‘deep forest’, as well as forest areas that are more easily accessed through walkways and with more open, green areas to allow people to immerse themselves in the enchantment of nature.”
He said that there is a strong focus on walkability in The Forestias, for both convenience and the pleasure of being close to nature, as well as for reasons of good health from regular exercise. Footpaths and roadways are carefully planned, routed and protected with natural plant barriers and canopies.
The Forestias has specially built flood protection that includes very large drainage reservoirs which can contain more than ten million litres of water and are able to protect the development from even the heaviest downpours.
“We invested heavily in these reservoirs rather than just let rainwater run off our development and drain out elsewhere. It exemplifies our approach of doing the best for The Forestias and, in parallel, also helping our neighbours in the community,” Mr. Ouiyamaphun said.
Similarly, the forest is expected to act as a ‘green lung’, both, for The Forestias as well as for nearby communities, and also produce a general cooling effect on the entire area, in addition to helping restore nature for the benefit of all.
“While being kinder to our planet ourselves, we also help our residents contribute to sustainability. For example, our state-of-the-art energy systems will help residents and visitors across the entire project reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by a staggering amount which is almost equivalent to what a 30,000-rai forest would absorb,” he said.
Mr. Visit Malaisirirat, Chief Executive Officer, MQDC, said, “This is very much in keeping with MQDC philosophy to be an organisation that not only creates great developments, but also to be one that encourages, through example, social responsibility and a concern for the wellbeing of all.”
According to Mr. Malaisirirat, MQDC aims to be “a model developer supporting our nation to build orderly, active, happier and healthier communities.”
“Thailand has the potential to be a global leader with innovative concepts in property development that enhance the quality of life of residents as well as of those in surrounding communities, while also promoting sustainovation. The Forestias is a truly world-class development pioneering new concepts, and it is already bringing honour to our country on the global stage,” he said.
The Forestias is strategically located on the Eastern Economic Corridor which is predicted to be the fastest growing development corridor in Thailand, and has easy access to major highways and mass transportation systems.
The construction of road systems and the pilings for infrastructure at the project are already 90 percent completed.
Among some of the branded components of The Forestias are ‘Whizdom’ condominiums, ‘Mulberry Grove’ condominiums, ‘Mulberry Grove Villas’, ‘The Aspen Tree’ residences, ‘Six Senses Residences’, and a ‘Six Senses’ hotel.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/pr/1813724/mqdc-to-build-worlds-first-town-purposefully-designed-for-healthier-happier-living-at-the-forestias
