Façade specialist seele realized the expanded rooftop viewing paltform for MahaNakhon in Bangkok.

60sqm

glazed floor

2

glass cylinder

5

sliding doors

mahanakhon - rooftop viewing platform & glass cylinder

Bangkok’s tallest building MahaNakhon with its distinctive sculptural appearance and its 314m height is an architectural eye-catcher. Known as the “Pixel Tower” the 77-storey property is housing a hotel, bars, restaurants, retail stores and luxury residential apartments. On top of the building, a visitor centre is welcoming everyone enjoying 360° views of the city. seele was responsible for two main constructions on the roof: the Sky Tray, a glass observation platform, and a double glass cylinder with a spiral staircase.

The Sky Tray is a 60sqm glazed floor which cantilevers from the building and allows visitors to have a breath taking view vertically down through the floor to the street. It consists of six glass panels which were mounted on the primary structure. Each glass panel has a dimension of 4 x 2.7m, is built as 7 x 12mm low iron glass laminate and weighs around 2.6t. As the installation took place in over 300m height, the lifting of each glass panel needed high accuracy and monitoring of any emerging wind. 

  • The second construction is a glass cylinder which consists of an inner and an outer cylinder with 600sqm curved glass surface. Inside the cylinder a hydraulic lift extends over four floors. A spiral staircase was installed between the two glass cylinders. The peculiarity of the cylinder lies in the joints between the glasses: The prevailing weather conditions at the site required a system that provides the necessary stability of the entire cylinder. Since the cylinder rises 18m in height, additionally exceeds the height of the building and thus is exposed to high wind pressures, tension rods were installed in the joints. After each glass row, the glass and the stainless steel rings were pretensioned with tension rods so that the entire cylinder is tensed down and fixed to the building.

    Header image: © seele/Andreas Keller

  • MahaNakhon - 60sqm glazed floor for rooftop viewing platform realized by seele
  • MahaNakhon: rooftop viewing platform realized by seele
  • 2 glass cylinder from façade specialist seele for MahaNakhon in Bangkok
  • Glass cylinder with 600sqm curved glass surface from façade specialist seele for MahaNakhon in Bangkok
MahaNakhon - 60sqm glazed floor for rooftop viewing platform realized by seele
© seele/Andreas Keller
MahaNakhon: rooftop viewing platform realized by seele
© seele/Andreas Keller
2 glass cylinder from façade specialist seele for MahaNakhon in Bangkok
© seele/Andreas Keller
Glass cylinder with 600sqm curved glass surface from façade specialist seele for MahaNakhon in Bangkok
© seele/Andreas Keller

Credits

Client Pace Project Three Company Ltd.
Architect Ole Scheeren
Date of completion 2018
Scope of work by seele
  • Design, engineering and installation of 6 glass panels (60sqm) for sky tray
  • Substructure for glass panels
  • 2 glass cylinder, steel substructure and connections to glass canopy and balustrades (600sqm)
  • 5 sliding doors, 1 swing door
Awards
  • CTBUH Award of Excellence 2019