“…Over the past year, Sansiri and the PIPATCHARA brand have demonstrated the power of design to transform waste into value through their first ‘waste to WORTH’ project, which recycled plastic bottles into beautifully designed, functional bags. However, that was merely the beginning of a conversation about sustainability between the two brands. Today, their second collaboration has grown to an even larger scale. From the question “What else can we recycle?” emerged a new answer connecting the sea, Phuket, and local communities: the vast quantities of discarded fishing nets, an environmental burden that has persisted for far too long…”
Conversations between both teams gradually developed into a clear idea: “Aqua Playground,” a large-scale art installation created from seaside fishing nets that not only stands out for its artistic beauty but also heals the spirit and creates new value for the community. The people who know the most about this project are none other than Ms. Sriamphai ‘Oah’ Rattanamayoon, Vice President of the Marketing Department (High Rise), Sansiri Public Company Limited, and Mrs. Pipatchara ‘Petch’ Kaeojinda, Co-Founder and Creative Director of the PIPATCHARA brand, who spoke with #legend_TH about the story behind this success and their genuine commitment to sustainability.
THE INSPIRATION
Regarding the inspiration, Ms. Rattanamayoon revealed that beyond delivering exceptional experiences, Sansiri has long been at the forefront of property development with a commitment to sustainability.
“Actually, this is our second project. In the first round, we did the ‘waste to WORTH’ project, taking worthless items and creating something valuable. We transformed plastic bottles into tote bags for customers in our projects, which resulted in a new design that could also be recycled over time. This time, we chose to build upon the first project. We asked ourselves what else could be recycled. Petch is highly experienced in Sustainable Fashion and has been recognised for it for a long time. When we met last year, she mentioned the Aqua Playground concept, thinking about rubbish in the sea. After talking it through, we wanted them to collaborate with us on a project in Phuket because there’s enormous amounts of waste from the sea, and it’s relevant to our project. There are lots of nets and fishing gear. We thought these fishing nets were something we could use to create value, as artwork, creative work that could create value and heal people’s spirits locally. It’s taken over a year to continuously develop and work on it until it came to fruition today.”
Meanwhile, Mrs. Kaeojinda added that the project Sansiri proposed came at the perfect time for PIPATCHARA to expand the scale of their sustainability work.
“I must build on what Ms. Rattanamayoon, the last project was the first time PIPATCHARA started working on a community-based project, and Sansiri is a brand that places great importance on this. We wanted to do something beneficial for communities as well. After we finished the net bags, we had a second meeting where Sansiri asked us what projects we’d like to do next year, in case they could collaborate with us. When they learnt it was about using fishing nets, they were very interested. It fitted perfectly with us because our brand already wanted to expand the scale of our creative work beyond fashion, to have it presented through design, through functional spaces, through local communities, so we could utilise it more. Another factor is the ART&CONNECT nature of The Society by Sansiri, which is already an art space. This made it even more suitable for us in terms of enabling people to participate in these things. That’s why we use the word ‘playground’ in this project.”
THE DETAIL
When it comes to sustainable creation, many of Sansiri’s projects have been presented in concrete form, but for this project, Ms. Rattanamayoon explained that it represents genuine sustainability, not just in the outcome but from the very first stage of the process.
“We actually present sustainability in multiple dimensions. Creating inspiration solely from residential living might not be enough because art is another discipline that Sansiri incorporates into every project, from design work and collectibles from around the world to iconic furniture from world-class designers and much more. We see ourselves not merely as a property brand but as a lifestyle brand that wants to create experiences beyond that. This aligns with the point that sustainability doesn’t necessarily have to end with just the house itself. We look after everything from upstream to downstream, how to design and create functionality that uses the least energy possible, and ensures that all waste or leftover materials can be reused as much as possible. These are the goals that all Sansiri stakeholders agree upon. We want to create impact on a wider scale, regardless of which branch or sector of the business.”
Conversely, PIPATCHARA’s ultimate goal doesn’t stop at merely recycling materials for sustainability but also involves passing on inspiration to people and organisations.
“This collaboration is a great opportunity for us to visibly expand the quantity and size of pieces because, as I said, various innovations take time to develop and research. Initially, we didn’t think the scale could be this large. So this collaboration represents a huge leap for our brand. It enables us to say with confidence that we’re no longer just a fashion company but a brand that wants to benefit communities. And partnering with a strong partner like Sansiri has helped our project reach the scale we truly desired. Petch believes many organisations will definitely be inspired by this project.”
THE FUTURE
Although this project has been wonderfully successful, neither party has stopped their journey. Rather, they continue to push forward on sustainability topics. Well-being may be one of the major topics that Sansiri will emphasise particularly in the coming year.
“For the next project, I must say that Sansiri is creating a ‘model project’ where every house in the development can be a sustainable home. But naturally, this takes considerable time and requires cooperation from all stakeholders, from upstream to downstream. Another thing we have is called the “Green Summit.” We’re trying to encourage all our partners to start taking action and participating more in sustainability. This has led everyone to begin finding ways to bring sustainability to our projects. And next year, Sansiri is trying to focus more on well-being because we want to bring sustainability to our residents not just in terms of housing but also quality of life.”
From extensive experience in the fashion and sustainability sectors, Mrs. Kaeojinda believes that to genuinely invite communities or consumers to embrace sustainability, proper education that can be practically applied is an essential component that cannot be forgotten.
“If you observe PIPATCHARA’s approach, you’ll see that we provide quite a lot of knowledge about sustainability, and we uphold transparency from start to finish. And I believe this is what enables people to absorb what we do. For example, if there’s a scale of 1-10 and they only want to absorb it at level 2, that’s alright with us. Because in reality, they don’t necessarily have to agree with or follow everything we present. We provide options, but they must choose for themselves which approach is most suitable for their lifestyle or best answers their preferences. Because truly, the topic of sustainability is enormously broad, and I, myself also must constantly learn about it as well.”
