Issue 14 | Feature brought to you by Ananda Development
There is more emphasis on your health than ever before. Eating well and staying fit isn’t just a fad, it is a way of life. People are considering more about how they live and how this impacts them. Thailand is even seeing an increased number of people taking to two wheels at the weekend as cycling is becoming a popular, and rather serious pastime. Sadly Bangkok’s roads and traffic are not too kind to cyclists with many having to travel out of the city to really work up a sweat.
One of Thailand’s leading developers Ananda has been astute to recognise this trend in the desire to lead an active life. Known for their track record of successful residential developments across the capital, Ananda’s recent project Ideo 02 is situated in the Bang Na district of the city close to the BTS station.
Christopher Moore, international sales manager at Ananda, comments that this, “Fringe area is becoming a real hotspot”. Not only will it be welcoming ‘Bangkok Mall’, The Mall Group’s flagship project expected to be the biggest shopping centre in Asia, but with limited land in central Bangkok, Bang Na allows developers to build projects that are quite unique.
The result? A resort style condominium that could not be built anywhere else in the city. Spanning a site of nearly 13 rai gives Ananda the space to produce a project to meet the needs of how people want to live their life. In fact the footprint of the building only takes up three rai leaving the remainder setaside for facilities.
The concept at Ideo O2 is simple: for residents to have everything within easy reach so that there is no need to leave. Work out in the gym, clear your head on a run or clock up some kilometres on a bike, all are possible within a self-contained area. There will be the usual facilities that we come to expect in any new condominium, but on a bigger scale and with numerous added extras.
Three connecting swimming pools will snake around the site and two fitness centres will be equipped with everything needed to keep in shape regardless of fitness levels. Plus Ideo O2 will boast a private nature jogging track of 200 metres, a futsal field (a smaller scaled football pitch), and to top it off, a wild bike park – a 700 metre bike track surrounded by green space of over 5,000 square metres designed by Peppermint Bike Park, a company that produces cycling tracks specifically for urban areas. Potentially the only project in Bangkok to cater for the growth in cycling as a sport illustrates how Ideo O2 is really upping the ante.
The project will also have its own coworking space. Working habits are changing as more people want to achieve the ultimate work life balance with flexibility being at the top of wish lists when looking for a new job. As a response to these trends, there has been a rise in co-working spaces to meet demand and Ananda has this detail covered so that there really will be no need to leave Ideo O2.
Clearly seeing the value in having facilities as a unique selling point, Ananda also wants to ensure that the project has longevity. This forward-thinking approach is not only to their benefit, but for the residents too.
“We spend considerable time searching suitable sites and researching in order to build something that will be well received to the market. Our recent project, Elio Del Ray by Udom Suk BTS station on Sukhumvit Road, attracted a phenomenal amount of interest due to its resort style and we want to resemble this again but on a bigger scale”, comments Moore. “We understand the importance of residents wanting to live, work and play all in one area”.
