Porsche’s legendary design house unveils a bold new address in Bangkok, where sweeping sky villas, private garage galleries, and pioneering innovation are intent on rewriting the codes of vertical living.

BY AMANDA McCOY

Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche – known to friends as “Butzi” Porsche – had already cemented his place in design history as the dynamo behind the legendary 911 when he made a surprising move in 1972: he stepped away from day-to-day automotive design and launched Porsche Design. His goal was simple but scrupulous: apply the same purist philosophy that made the 911 so iconic to everyday luxuries like timepieces, home décor, luggage, clothing, and more. In 2017, this ambition took new heights with the firm’s first residential undertaking, a supercar-inspired sky-piercer in Sunny Isles Beach. The 60-story project was a vision in innovation and affluence, marked by its patented Dezervator system, a robotic elevator that whisks residents and their wheels directly to their palaces in the clouds. In 2024, Porsche Design announced its journey into Asia, planting tinted-glass roots in one of the East’s most fascinating urban landscapes with the Porsche Design Tower Bangkok, slated for a 2028 grand opening.

This is the third entry in Porsche Design’s residential portfolio and its first in Asia. (The Stuttgart tower, a mixed-use high-rise that spans residences, a hotel, and the new headquarters for Porsche Consulting, officially opened in late 2023.) The firm is teaming with Thai real estate behemoth Ananda Development to bring the 21-story concept to life. The design is a living love letter to Stuttgart-born icons of past and present; the building rests atop an exposed pedestal that takes its structural form from the aerodynamic contours of the Porsche Mission R concept car, while up top, an illuminated crown casts a soft red glow over the tinted-glass structure like a taillight. Even the residences’ terrace doors take on a supercar quality, retracting with a flick of a switch like the roof of the 911 Targa.

There are just 22 residences, dubbed Sky Villas, a collection of duplexes and quadplexes that range in size from 5,620 to 12,200 square feet. Each home is anchored by a superyacht-inspired steel and marble staircase that connects the multi-level living spaces, while ceilings soar up to 21 feet to bathe the interiors in Bangkok’s endless skyline. The building’s boutique size limits the amount of square footage that can be reserved for an amenity suite (though there are business/social lounges, an 82-foot community pool, and a wellness center on property), but that doesn’t mean residents will be lacking for niceties. Each unit touts a dedicated wine and cigar room, multi-purpose master spa, and optional wellness inclusions like a massage room, sauna, cold plunge, and salon.

Kitchens, conceptualized by architect Antonio Citterio in partnership with Italian luxury specialist Arclinea, are divided into three distinct culinary zones to blend Eastern and Western traditions, so whether cravings call for stir-fry or sirloin, everything is at the home chef’s fingertips. There’s a professional Eastern-style setup with a high-output gas wok burner, a state-of-the-art Western system with Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, and a semi-outdoor BBQ area.

Kinetic movement is a clear design theme here, a fitting formula for a brand built on precision performance. Lines are clean and fluid, while layered materials and dynamic lighting play with depth and dimension. Kitchen drawers and cabinets are electrically powered, and the aforementioned automated terrace doors fold into the ceiling, revealing a rather generously sized private pool. Bangkok’s tropical savannah climate yields hot and humid temperatures year-round, thus the terraces employ a clever floor-vented air conditioning system for a cooling bowl effect.

Each residence touts its own “Passion Space,” a customizable canvas that can be configured as anything from a wellness retreat or social lounge to a curated art gallery. But in Porsche circles, the most prized collections are often rendered in carbon fiber and steel, and these private, soundproof spaces are perhaps best utilized as garages. Standard villas can accommodate up to four cars, while the flagship penthouses boast enough space for a stunning 18-car collection. The spaces are accessible by the Loop, a central, spiral-shaped ramp that runs through the core of the building. Designed in collaboration with the racing specialists of Custom G and the first of its kind in Asia, the private driveway leads residents directly from the street to their garage gallery in the sky.

Sky Villas begin at $15 million and top out around $40 million.

Porsche Design Tower Bangkok — pdtowerbangkok.com