Sansiri says it is building lives, not just towers
AS CUSTOMERS today change their purchasing behaviour and the market is increasingly competitive among both long-time and new players, Sansiri Plc has introduced “Siri House” in Singapore and Bangkok, to build its brand and create experience that customers expect from the company, Sansiri Plc’s chief creative officer, Ou Baholyodhin, said in a recent interview with The Nation.
“We have to design a residence that is comfortable to serves the customer demand, but how do we present both comfort and a design that attracts customers to learn about our brand? Siri House is the outcome of our idea to design a space and to create community and lifestyle within this space to explain what is Sansiri,” Ou said.
Ou took on the role of Sansiri’s chief creative officer last year, tasked with designing and creating the Sansiri brand, what it stands for, and positioning it as a top-of-mind brand in the property sector.
“Sansiri’s business concept is not limited to developing residential. We create complete living experiences, and so must find a way to reach our target customers and help them experience what it is to live in a Sansiri home,” Ou said.
“This is the way to help them to decide decision to buy our residence over buying it from our competition.”
In addressing the question of how they could provide an experience that makes it clear to customers what they can expect from Sansiri’s residential projects, the company chose to open Siri House at Singapore on January 11. This is challenge for its foreign customers to know and learn what a Sansiri residence is about and to also learn about Thai culture.
Siri House in Singapore has a total space of 300.5 square metres and is located at Dempsey Hillhouses. It is designed with additional facilities, including a restaurant, an art gallery that exhibits a roster of art shows by Thai and international artists, a retail shop featuring a hot list design brands to know and to watch from Thailand.
Ou said that its design for Siri House in Singapore includes spaces where potential customers can touch the interior features of a Sansiri resident. It attracts foreign buyers interested in buying residential in Bangkok, including current Sansiri residents.
“This looks like our showroom, but we do not directly offer our residential projects directly for sale here. Instead, we present our lifestyle, our community concept and inspire people to live in our residential projects. This is the way to build our brand to attract long-term customers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the house offers art exhibitions to present Thai and international artists. Kantapon “Gong” Metheekul, who works under the name Gongkan, was the kick-off artist with an exhibition under the theme of Another Dimension is Gongkan.
Kantapon is a former art director and illustrator based in New York and Bangkok. His work is best known for its minimal street art-inspired drawings and “Teleport” art works – a sticker and mural series featuring characters climbing out of dark holes scattered among public spaces. His work explores themes of freedom and inequality in race, sexuality and human rights.
Gongkan will be followed by exhibitions by other Thai and international artists aimed to inspire potential customers to learn about the lifestyle they could enjoy in a Sansiri community.
“As the next step, we may open the exhibition space for rental by other exhibitors to show their work,” said Ou. The house will soon generate income from both the restaurant and rental income,” he said.
However, producing on-site income is not the main objective for Siri House, but rather it is about presenting the business brand, he clarified.
He has translated the idea to design the 1,600-square-metre Siri House at Soi Somkid in Bangkok, which opens on March 15. The concept behind that space is “all-day living by design”.
The building will offer facilities to attract a wide range of people as an open house for all, said Ou, noting that it will reflect the approach taken in Sansiri’s residential projects such as a co-working space and creation of a community for all lifestyles that include a restaurant, retail shop and other amenities.
“We created Siri House to inspire our customers by demonstrating what they will get from Sansiri Plc. This is the way to build a strong brand for our customers – by building them a life rather than building residential,” said Ou.
Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin said that Siri House “is the way to present what we are”. From Singapore, and now Bangkok, the company is next studying opening its third facility at Hua Hin.
“This is the way to build our brand and talk with our customers, showing that we don’t just build residential buildings – we build their living solution and lifestyle,” he said.