Asian Architecture [ARC 2213/2234]

PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY

Vernacular as an Essence in Contemporary Design:

A Study on the Presence of a Malay Vernacular Design in the

Modern Design of the Deck House to achieve Thermal

Comfort

NAME: Patricia Kong Weng Yee

STUDENT ID: 0315837

LECTURER: Miss Shahrianne

SUBMISSION DATE: 28th June 2016

TABLE OF CONTENT:

ABSTRACT .……………………………………………………………………….…1

INTRODUCTION .…………………………………………………………………2 – 3

OVERVIEW OF THE DECK HOUSE, JANDA BAIK, PAHANG ...………….……4 – 7

OVERVIEW OF MALAY VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE .…………………7 – 9

QUESTION 1 ………………………………………………………………….…10 – 12

QUESTION 2 ……. ………………………………………………………………….. 13

QUESTION 3 ……. ………………………………………………………………. 14 – 17

REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………….……18

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study paper is to analyze the integration of the architectural design

element of a Malay Vernacular architecture and contemporary architecture to achieve

thermal comfort (objective). The Malay Vernacular house has the design intention of

cooling the building with the usage of natural wind source, thus acknowledging to the

site response and the environmental context in the surrounding. In the modern era, the

Malay vernacular architecture are often replaced by the modern movement due to the

society and economy demands and material issues. This causes the culture and the

design to deteriorate as well as the comfort of the occupants in the building (issue). In

order to solve these issues, there are some cases in which one intend to bring back the

vernacular design and incorporate it with the modern design. The Deck House is one of

the main cases to study the effectiveness of internal comfort. It is studied based on the

usage of materials, its design forms, openings, and spatial arrangements. In assisting

the proof of research, comparatives studies based on contemporary architecture with

Malay vernacular design were conducted (methodology). In order to provide more

validation on the study, The Deck House was used to show the employment of

traditional vernacular design element into a modern building (case study). The findings

of the research have taunted the favours of achieving thermal comfort (result). This can

be seen through the design of The Deck House that responds to the climate, with its

glass box construction and promoting energy saving system. While merging the

importance of cultural features and the natural environment, The Deck House

successfully shown a new exploration of categories as it shows appreciation of the

Malay vernacular architecture whilst integrating contemporary architecture elements in.

The integration of vernacular values into modern architecture upholds occupants and

designers' responsibility to conserve Malaysia's identity in architecture which can

resonate the idea of the locals' life adapting to the environment, culture as well as their

user needs (conclusion).

INTRODUCTION

The classification of being one of the richest element in Malaysia's cultural heritage is

the traditional Malay Vernacular House. Its design is to accommodate the hot and

humid tropical climate in Malaysia. The Malay Vernacular design usually takes several

needs and responses into consideration such as the site responses and environmental

needs. This not only help fulfil the needs of humans but to also help achieve thermal

comfort in tropical buildings.

Despite that, the design movement of contemporary architecture tend to overrides the

approach of the vernacular design in today's era. People tend to get attracted to

luxurious forms and economical minimalistic contemporary designs driven by

architecture publications. Buildings as such tend to lack the environmental and

contextual considerations and often ignores the passive cooling strategies that are

implemented in vernacular designs. They rather have machines e.g. air conditioner,

fans etc. to achieve thermal comfort. Hence, it is important to have an understanding

towards vernacular design and utilized them as a commendable in outlining

contemporary designs due to its impression of climatic adaptation design responding to

the nature of tropical climate. The implementation of vernacular features and

contemporary design in buildings will promote energy efficiency building designs in

tropical countries and assures in shaping a green and more sustainable future.

To further analyze this research, the Deck House which is located in Janda Baik,

Pahang, was chosen as the site to conduct a case study. This is due to its known factor

of its integration of Malay vernacular design features in its contemporary design in

Malaysia. The features of the Malay Vernacular design integrated in the Deck House

are highlighted to then further discuss on how its design integrations can achieve

thermal comfort. A detailed analysis and studies were conducted for every single

vernacular features utilize din the selected site. This case study paper will evaluate the

effectiveness of achieving thermal comfort through application and implementation of

Malay vernacular design features into contemporary design.

Research Question(s):

Question 1: What are the design consideration of a tropical house?

Question 2: Responding to the sun orientation and wind ventilation, how does the

features helped between the Malay Traditional House and The Deck House?

Question 3: How does these design considerations help improve the living condition in

The Deck House?

OVERVIEW OF THE DECK HOUSE, JANDA BAIK

The Deck House, is a uniquely designed modern

building that incorporates the elements of a Malay

vernacular architecture, located at the foothills of

Genting. Designed by Ar. Choo Gim Wah, The

Deck House can be said to be a great getaway

from the hectic city life. But what is so unique about

The Deck House? The uniqueness of The Deck

House was not only integrating the design

principles of a Malay traditional house but it was

also inspired by the slopes of the terrains and the

site surrounding (Choo, 2012).

The Deck House, is a two and a half story high

modern building with a spatial layout of 372sqm on

the terrains that consist of 3 bedrooms and a wide open area for the other spaces e.g.

kitchen, living room, dining room etc. It is constructed using lightweight materials and

glasses in order to conciliate with the slope and its surrounding without having to

interfere with the site context. Having being featured for functioning like a Malay House

while being categorized as a modernized building due to the implementation of glasses.

Figure 1: A view of The Deck House merging with the natural

surroundings.

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

The Deck House also shows the concept of having a semi outdoor design that

integrates the outdoor to the indoor spaces by causing a deceived to the user’s eyes.

The Deck House was built with a much consideration on a Malay House climatic design

application. This is in order to cool the indoor spaces of the building effectively without

fully compromising to the usage of man – made technology. However, that is not only

focus point of the building. The Deck House was not only built just to suit the local

climate but it was to also adulate the beauty and the serene nature.

Ar. Choo Gim Wah showed in his works of The Deck House that the building itself not

only follow the constructions of a Malay House but also the spatial layout as well. The

Deck House has wide span of open areas as seen in its plan.

Figure 2: Implementation of glass windows to allow the user to feel surrounded by nature

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

The arrangement of the space, too, follows the

traditional Malay house. It is known to that a

Malay house’ spaces consist of “Rumah Ibu”

“Rumah Dapur” “Serambi” and “Tanjung”. The

spaces are mostly connected without barriers of

walls or partitions. This can be seen in The Deck

House’s spatial arrangement where the living

room, dining room and kitchen are place in an

open space without any partition walls.

Figure 4: The dining room, living room and kitchen in an open area without barriers

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

Figure 3: The ground floor plan of The Deck House

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

OVERVIEW OF MALAY VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

Malay Vernacular architecture took place since centuries ago. According to Kamarul

Syahril Kamal (2004), the traditional Malay house was built since the early settlements.

Raised above ground to cope with ground dampness and floods on stilts, the Malay

House also gain a good ventilation system through the cracks of the raised floors. A

Malay house has an advantages in a way that its construction method gave it the

flexibility to extend the house area (Nasir, 1985).

A Malay House is made with a post and lintel structure with either wooden or bamboo

walls. It has a clear feature which is its height and its steep sloping roof with gables at

both end. The roofs are usually made with lightweight material and is usually a thermal

insulator like the leaves of a palm trees. This helps the house to collect a bit of the heat

during the day and cools during the night.

Figure 5: A view of a typical Malay Traditional House

(source: www.panoramio.com)

One of the other most common features of a Malay House would be its windows. The

windows are usually at large sizes and is tall. The windows help to line the wall and also

gives good ventilation and various views of the surrounding.

Spatial layout in a Malay house is simple and neat. This is due to the fact that there are

less partition walls indoors, making the interior spaces an open wide area. This although

differs from each states in Malaysia. The spaces in a Malay house consist of a rumah

Ibu, a tanjung, a serambi, a rumah tangga, a rumah dapur, a rumah tengah and an

entrance.

Figure 6: The interior view of the building with the clear view to the outside. The openings can be seen through the floor

slabs.

(source: www.virtualmalaysia.com)

The main entrance is designed to face the East – West direction which it the direction

facing Mecca. The front portion of the lot which is the serambi and the anjung are used

to greet and welcome male guests. According to Nur Hidayahtuljamilah, the important

spaces to greet guests usually receive sunlight in the morning. She then stated that the

rumah ibu was designed with minimal partitions for ventilation and natural lighting

purposes. It is said that the female guests were to be greeted at the rumah tengah,

Figure 7: A sketch of the plan of a Malay Traditional House

(source: www.seindahkampung.blogspot.com)

QUESTION1: What are the design consideration of a traditional house?

A traditional house usually means houses that were built before a new changed era. It

usually does not have the latest technology built into it nor advanced materials or

construction method integrated in it. Without the usage of technology and advanced

materials, people usually rely on natural resources that could be found around them.

For example, to the Nomadic Age where people tend to roam around. Nomads would

often live in different locations and in order for them to protect themselves from wild

creatures, they build a shelter made out of sticks, leaves and stones. As for this case, a

Malay traditional house in Malaysia are usually built with bamboos or timbers and

leaves for its roof.

A Malay house will usually integrate the idea of extending the spaces. This is due to

facts that the family may have expanded their family line or has guests staying over.

Thus, with its construction style, it is easy to build an extension straightaway as it will

not affect the other parts of the house in any way.

In other cases, there are a several considerations that needs to be taken into account

before constructing a Malay traditional house. There are as followed;

(a) Orientation of building

(b) Envelope of building

(c) Ventilation

(d) Materials

(e) Site Context

These considerations should be taken into account when building structures. This is in

order to prioritize the shades, maximizing ventilation and minimizing heat absorption in

the building due to the high relative air humidity. The next section will talk in depth about

the considerations.

A Malay traditional house is usually placed facing the East – West direction. This is

because it is important for them to face Mecca due to the adaptation of Islamic

principles of orientation of mosques. In this case the building is designed to face Mecca.

This could minimize the exposure of solar radiation into the house. With this orientation

of building, the Malay house can also gather winds for ventilation purposes as the winds

in Malaysia usually flows from the Northeast and Southwest direction.

A Malay traditional house is usually placed with large overhangs. This is so that its

provides a wide span of apron and that it will not gain as much of heat in the building.

Figure 8: The ventilation flows in a typical Malay house

(source: Lim, 1987)

This is to also prevent solar radiation from directly entering the building. The roofs are

built with ventilation joints and panels in the construction panels. The Malay house has

no ceiling thus assuring no air blockage.

The materials used for the house are usually renewable natural resources like bamboos

and timber. The buildings are often build without using the use of metal like nails. In

other for the building to be properly constructed, the timber or bamboo often have a

pre – cut holes and grooves. This is to fit the timber into the other joints, effectively it

can be said that all Malay houses are usually prefabricated. Although the use of nails

has been widely used nowadays, it is mostly used for minimal constructions such as the

window panels or the wall panels. The nails were not used in the timber joint

construction as the joints could be easily dismantled and could easily be reconstructed

at a new location.

To conclude, the design considerations that of a traditional house would be orientation,

building envelope, ventilation flow and materials used in the building which helps a lot

for ventilation purposes and to minimize solar glare and heat gain in the house.

QUESTION2: Responding to the sun orientation and wind ventilation, how

does the features helped between the Malay Traditional House and The Deck

House?

As we all know that tropical climates in Malaysia are usually hot and humid, thus the

construction of the building must use less extensive materials (e.g. metals, concretes) in

order to prevent the gain of heat in the building. In the case of a Malay traditional house,

the buildings are mainly constructed with pre – cut joints and no ceilings panels were

used. This thus making the indoor area very cool as the ventilation flow is quite good.

As for the Deck House, as it is placed in the foothills which makes it surrounded by tons

of trees with a cool and less humid climate environment, thus the application of

extensive material can be widely used. This is because the Deck House will not be

gaining much heat in the place it is surrounded but more cooling airs from the winds.

Figure 9: A diagram that shows the zones. The location of the Deck House is in the foothills zone

(source:BelpsApp)

QUSETION3: How does these design considerations helped improve the

living condition in The Deck House?

The built form of a traditional Malay House helps improves the usage of natural

ventilation in the Deck House. With its high tall celling height, the stack ventilation flow

from the open deck to indoors are well structured. As the spatial layout of The Deck

House is of that a Malay traditional house with minimal partitions, there is no

interference in the ventilation path. Thus making the indoor area of the Deck House

quite cooling be it during the day or at night.

Figure 10: The view of the bedroom with its 6.8m wide sliding door opened. The bedroom overlooks the lush

green forest that provides the fresh breeze.

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

Although the Deck House does not use pre – cut holes and grooves for its roof

construction as it is a modern style building, but it replaces the ventilation joints of a

Malay traditional house with aluminium louvres that is placed at the highest part of the

building. The Deck House also integrates the construction style of the Malay traditional

house which is the building made on stilts and the usage of stairs to enter the building.

This helps the building conceive very cool air breeze as it is higher up on the slope.

Thus making the people staying in the Deck House feeling satisfies and comfortable in

ways that it relaxes their mind, body and soul. The orientation and positioning of the

Deck House follows the slopes. This is a way is also an advantage to the building

because the wind direction comes from the Northeast and Southwest making the

building to receive a lot of winds every time.

Figure 11: The sketch made by Ar. Choo Gim Wah himself of the ventilation flow in the Deck House

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

With the usage of timber construction, glass

and steel, the Deck House replicates a

traditional Malay house. This is because most

the modern style house nowadays relies

heavily on reinforced concrete and masonries

which in Malaysia is a no – no. As Malaysia’s

climate is mostly hot and humid, the heat gain

in those concrete houses is much higher than

of the Deck House’s. According to the Green

Building Index (GBI), the Deck House received

a Platinum award for having the lowest rate of

energy consumption in the building. As its

openings provides ventilations and its tall, wide,

minimal framed windows which well – lit the

interior spaces as a whole. The openings also help with the ventilation purpose in the

building. With plenty of wide spread openings, it helps to maximize cross ventilation.

Some of the houses mainly the tropical ones would usually try and take another

approach which is to have smaller openings to reduce solar heat gains. However, in a

tropical climate surrounding, it is best to make use of the natural ventilation. Thus it is a

priority to focus the construction based on the ventilation as it helps in a way with

controlling the heat gain.

Figure 12: The wide openings in The Deck House

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

Thus in conclusion, the people who lives in The Deck House would experience thermal

comfort as a result of maximize ventilation and well – lit interior spaces. With the fact

that the Deck House is truly a perfect getaway from the busy hectic life especially in

cities like Kuala Lumpur, it is truly amazing of how a simple design feature could really

impact the souls of the people.

Figure 13: The stairs that leads to the entrance of the Deck House

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

Figure 14: The picture shows the aluminium louvres on top of the

building alongside the openings for ventilation purposes

(source: Archdaily, 2013)

REFERENCES

(1) Burklein, C. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from

http://www.livegreenblog.com/materials/the-deck-house-traditional-model-with-modern-

materials-8649/

(2) Kamal, K.S. (2007, March 04). Adaptation Design of Traditional Malay House to

Meet the Requirements of Comfort Living in Modern Houses. (2007, March 7).

Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://buildingconservation.com/2007/03/adaptation-

design-of-traditional-malay.html

(3) Hernandez, S., Brebbia, C. A., & Wilde, W. P. (2010). Eco-architecture III:

Harmonisation between architecture and nature. Southampton: WIT.

(4) The Deck House / Choo Gim Wah Architect. (2013). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from

http://www.archdaily.com/424699/the-deck-house-choo-gim-wah-architect