Projects

Of a few places one could safely retreat and relax in this pandemic time is one’s own abode. Many have since reconsidered and rethought their perspective of what an ideal home should be. Among many criteria of an ideal home expected by many homeowners today, having an inner garden or courtyard is on the top list. Completed in 2020, the Raffles House by eben is an ideal example of a house with courtyards that promotes the dwellers’ well-being in this current situation.

Although terraced house often represents a mass production for dwellings, there are many ways design intervention could give this building typology a more personalised touch. Bewboc House by Fabian Tan Architect displays an interesting design intervention to a young family’s terraced house in Kuala Lumpur.

Located within the Sunshine Coast Health Precinct, Vitality Village is a new 5-storey health and well-being space aiming bring together industry leaders and service provides to make a difference in the lives of the community. The project is the first of its kind in Australia and is expected to be completed by May 2021.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum prepares to open the doors to its South Atrium to the public this week on 3 December, after undergoing refurbishment for approximately 18 months.

Richard Harris is one of New Zealand’s most experienced architects and practice leaders. Now running his independent company, he was a co-founder and long-time director of Jasmax, a past president of the NZIA and a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute. In his career, from graduate to practice director, he has encountered – and survived – several significant economic downturns. He discussed his experience of difficult times, and the lessons he learnt, in a webinar addressed to NZIA members. This article is based on that presentation.

Blossom, an international Asian cuisine restaurant, is one of the many restaurants that sets foot in Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore. As a 550-square-metre space, its footprint is rather miniscule compared to the vast and extensive lobby where it is located. Many restaurants in this case, whether in large hotel lobbies, shopping mall atria, food courts, or airports, are usually designed to be as open as possible. These restaurants are common to be only bounded by low partitions, which usually function to demarcate the dining space so that it does not interfere with the overall circulation.

Rumpun at Happi Village is an accommodation in Janda Baik, a natural gateway located one-hour-drive from Kuala Lumpur. Spread across a five-hectare land with lush forest and gardens, the accommodation hosts a dozen of guestrooms and several facilities. Instead of using the natural setting as a backdrop, the living spaces are nested in it and so the two become inseparable.

Situated in a dense neighbourhood in South Jakarta, H House stands on a corner land plot that measures only over 60 square metres. A plot with this size is tiny already, but the buildable area is even more limited as the city regulation requires setbacks from two sides of the land plot that are adjacent to the streets. As a result, H House can only utilise not more than 40 square metres of the land to erect the building.

In the recent years, e-commerce has been disrupting the operations of physical retail spaces, especially malls and department stores. But even if many people now prefer to shop through their handheld screens, the culture of hanging and dining out with others prevails. This makes way to new developments of retail spaces, such as a lifestyle mall that is smaller in size and provides more dining experience and entertainment. These smaller spaces that contain only more or less a dozen curated outlets have been gaining popularity and popped up in many cities.

Although terraced house often represents a mass production for dwellings, there are many ways design intervention could give this building typology a more personalised touch. Bewboc House by Fabian Tan Architect displays an interesting design intervention to a young family’s terraced house in Kuala Lumpur.