This high-rise apartment building (230 m) contains 370 apartments spread over 66 of its 69 floors. The Met is a rare example of sustainable luxury housing: open spaces piercing the inside of the tower made it possible to ditch air conditioning and rely entirely on natural ventilation.
The project takes into account the tropical - humid and hot - climate of Bangkok and the megalopolis' lack of open spaces and greenery: the architects provided all apartments with green terraces; also, each of them faces the north and south facades at the same time, which also guarantees coolness.
Facade decoration with ceramic tiles, wood and fabric is a tribute to traditional Thai architecture.
It should be noted that in 2008 another WOHA development, Newton Suites, was shortlisted for the award. This year, among them were Studio Gang's Chicago-based Aqua Tower, which has become famous for its bird-friendly facade design (the chances of bird collisions with the building are minimized), the world's tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa by SOM and Adrian Smith (she received a special award for innovative technical solution), the Shanghai World Financial Center of the KPF bureau and the 203-meter Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower by Tange Associates, the purpose of which is the building of the vocational school.
The IHA cash prize of € 50,000 was awarded to the developer The Met, Pebble Bay; she plans to donate this amount to a Thai charity.
