— President & CEO of Hemaraj Land & Development Plc
— Resident of The Park Chidlom
— New York native, jazz lover and tennis buff
We wanted to do something different with The Park Chidlom. Hemaraj Land and Development hadn’t ventured into the residential market before, so we wanted to make our mark. We were not impressed by what was on offer in Bangkok at the time, especially in the city centre. There was nothing that we considered to be genuine luxury. In some ways that made our job easier — we were able to set the standard for the best residential condominium in the capital. In fact, we were the first such project with prices above 100,000 baht per square metre. It’s hard to believe now given the prices in Bangkok, but we led the way and our unit prices have almost tripled on resell too.
Obviously, the architecture of The Park Chidlom is the first thing you notice — it pays homage to the Art Deco era and had a very different look to anything else that was available in Bangkok at the time. The residence also has superlative facilities — meeting spaces, gyms, one of Bangkok’s largest residential swimming pools, tennis courts and more.
However, when it comes to luxury living, the interiors are as important as anything you see from the outside, if not more. Again, we wanted to do things differently with this residence. Most condominiums and family villas in Bangkok at the time either used teak, ceramic tiles or marble flooring. That simply didn’t have the right look or feel for what we were after. Throughout the entire project my guiding principle for whether something worked or not was whether it helped create a residence in which I myself would want to live. Nothing I had seen met that requirement for flooring.
Fortunately, I met Armin from German Standard at a business event. We got talking and he explained what his company did. I was immediately taken with his straightforward approach to business. I asked him to come and present some suitable products for The Park Chidlom. Both my team and I were very impressed. German Standard presented us with a level of quality we had not seen on the Thai market and the design and range of flooring were on a different level. Armin and his team continued to impress us with their service throughout the design and installation process. They did everything they said they would and ensured each job was finished to the highest possible standard.
As for the aftercare service, German Standard has helped with any issues we’ve had, but to be honest there haven’t been many. The floors look as good now as they did when they were installed. As for whether I would recommend German Standard? Certainly. If you’re after quality flooring and high levels of service then you must call Armin and his team.
