The design and construction of Baan Kantiang See, a unique villa-only family resort in Koh Lanta, is Ton Company’s biggest project to date. Here, Pierre-Yves Loriers (Ton), the managing director, explains some of the challenges involved and how they were overcome to create this beautiful new holiday complex. 

“Our clients approached us in April 2007. After two years of searching for the perfect piece of land, they had finally found their ideal spot: nearly 6.5 rai on a steep hillside overlooking the breathtaking Kantiang Bay in the south of Koh Lanta. They wanted to create a family-friendly, villa-only resort, with large individual units and a central pool – all with panoramic sea views. They had a clear concept of what was required: it was then up to us to transform that into reality.”

Engineering challenge

“Our first site visit gave us an idea of the task that lay ahead. The land – then barren scrubland - is steeply sloping, and mostly rock with little to no topsoil. There was no water, electricity, or access road. Our in-house engineers did a thorough survey of the area, then worked alongside the architects to create strong and stable retaining walls, required both for the actual house construction, and also for the landscaping - to prevent erosion while allowing proper drainage. All foundations needed to be raised as it was impossible to embed them in the rock.”  

Design challenge

“Our biggest challenge was to design a master plan, within the constraints of the topography, that allowed each villa an unrestricted 180˚ view of the sea, with no obstructions. The owners had bought the land for the stunning view; and they wanted all their guests to benefit from it. “We made models to reproduce the terrain and played with various layouts. The breakthrough came when we decided – in keeping with the clients’ wish to have a modern Thai feel to the design – to play with the roof structure. Traditional Thai roofs have steeply-pitched gables with low volume and these were rotated 90˚ on some villas to allow the view to be seen through the peaks. 

“The villa interiors are all identical with a contemporary look, featuring two separate bedrooms, each with ensuite bathroom and semi-open air shower, as well as a large outdoor terrace, again to take advantage of the views. Care was taken to make them child friendly; the whole resort is designed in this way. “Of course, the swimming pool also had to have a sea view and our architects created a stunning ‘infinity edge’ pool, giving the impression that the water merges with the horizon over the sea - even though the pool itself is only slightly raised from the ground. This also required substantial structural engineering work, particularly in anchoring the foundations to the hillside.” 


Project management challenge

“With the architects and engineers needing to collaborate more closely than usual, good management was the key to the success of the project. The limited budget had to be controlled when choosing materials and the cost of transport over to the island needed to be factored in.  “Our foreman, architect and engineer  were on site day and night to oversee the construction, as well as send daily progress reports to the clients. Communication for this project was in fact largely carried out by email and Skype, with the clients only required to make a handful of site visits, which was essential as they all had work commitments in Norway. 

“We made sure that all communication was clear and honest. Even as the project evolved and modifications had to be made to the original plans, I believe we succeeded in respecting their vision for the resort, as well as completing the project within the preferred timeframe.”