A Comparative Analysis of Tropical Architecture features of a Traditional Malay House and Ting Residence by Wooi ArchitectBy Nur Syazleen Binti SiesID 0321260Asian Architecture

TING RESIDENCE BY WOOI

ARCHITECT

TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURAL QUALITIES

FUNCTION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

CONSTRUCTION METHOD

TRADITIONAL MALAY HOUSE

RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.What is tropical architecture and how to successfully design one?2. What is the difference between traditional and modern tropical architecture based on a typical Malay House and Ting Residence by Wooi Architect?3. What are the factors affecting the design of the characteristic of each; Ting Residence and Malay Traditional?4. How does this factors affect the thermal comfort of the houses, Ting Residence and Malay Traditional House?5. How is the Ting Residence sustainable and what tropical architecture feature does it adapt to achieve it’s sustainability?

IntroductionIt is well known that, Malay Traditional house is one of the most sustainable tropical house design ever created. Taking hundreds of years to develop to perfection with many trials and errors, our ancestors designed a very well sustained house which respect mother nature, its surrounding and react well to the tropical climate that we have. Ting Residence is one of the best example to show the progress of how the traditional Malay house evolve with the new construction methods and technologies without ever leaving the spirit of being a traditional Malay house. Though the look has uplifted and there are more spaces added into this modern Tropical House, the architect never left the thought of his childhood in designing this particular house.

What is Tropical Architecture

Tropical architecture is all about achieving thermal comfort through the use of passive design elements like sunshades, cavity walls, light shelves, overhangs, roof and wall insulation and even shading from large trees to block the sun. It can look very traditional, ultramodern or even high-tech. Passive design play a big role in this climate because it is a sustainable way is the process of achieving this comfort level without the use of mechanical systems

Tropical Climate• Malaysia is situated between latitude 1º and 7º North and longitude

100º and 140º East. It can be said that Malaysia is located in the equatorial doldrums, with the characters of uniform temperature, high humidity and copious rainfall all year long. • As a tropical country, Malaysia experiences high temperatures, with

annual mean minimum temperature of 22ºC and annual mean maximum of 34ºC while the average rainfall is between 190mm-310mm

Basic Design Principle of Tropical Architecture

1. The external features of the building envelope and its relation to the site should be designed to fully utilize air movement. Interior partitions should not block air movements.2. Air velocity can be reduced when the interior walls are placed close to the inlet opening or each time it is diverted around obstructions.3. If interior wall are unavoidable, air flow can still be ensured if the partitions have openings at the lower and upper portions. This is a common strategy in the old Malay Traditional house, with intricate wood carvings or wood louvres4. Since hot air goes upward and cool air goes downward, openings at the top of the roof and lower part of the house to facilitate air change

5. It is generally cooer at night, so ventilation of internal spaces can be continuous for nighttime cooling. This means designing the building with operable windows to let hot air escape at night and to capture prevailing night winds6. To supplement natural ventilation, fans can be placed at various heights and areas to increase comfort conditions. Fans are effective in generating internal air movement, improve air distribution and increase air velocities.7. Window openings are advisable at the body level or evaporative human body cooling and room width should not exceed five times ceiling height for good air movement.8. Sunshades and sun protection devices on opening reduce heat gain and glare. And also help in internal day lighting. Louvres that are adjustable can alter the direction of air flow and lighting.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND MODERN TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE AS REPRESENTED FROM A TYPICAL MALAY TRADITIONAL HOUSE AND TING RESIDENCE

MALAY TRADITIONAL HOUSE TING RESIDENCE

Serambi (Public)Rumah Ibu (Semi-Private)Dapur (Private)

FUNCTION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

Gallery, Lobby, Living Area (Public)Dining, Gymnasium (Semi-Private)Bedrooms, Kitchen (Private)

Consist of three main space: Serambi (an area for guests), Rumah Ibu (an area where activity such as sleeping, family bonding is at) and Dapur (Kitchen and Dining area). Since there are not much activity is done, not much space is needed

ARCHITECTURAL QUALITIES

The spaces are defined to provide better and more direct activity spaces. Spaces like gymnasium and living area are added to provide the need of a modern family activities

The construction elements in Malay Traditional houses are light timber-framed structures, forming elevated floors, sloping long roofs with large overhangs, louvered windows, timber or woven bamboo walls and screenings (on the upper walls CONSTRUCTION METHOD

The construction method is essentially RC framed structure with brick infill. The salient point here is that the concrete is unadorned. A good part of the 230mm thick common brick work is also left as fair-faced finish. The wall plaster is left grey unpainted. Grey insitu terrazzo is applied throughout the floor of the house with local aluminium frames/windows and local timber such as Meranti (doors), Yellow Balau (ceiling) and Chengal (external deck and timber screens) are utilised. The interlocking curved roof is made of Zinc Titanium

As a tropical country, Malaysia receives a lot of sunshine and copious rainfall throughout the year. These factors lead to high solar radiation, glare and traces of rainwater to the exposed walls. Low thermal mass materials used in a Malay house can release heat from solar radiation readily, while large overhangs can reduce glare and traces of rainwater

RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

Since materials such as RC is used, waterproofing was no big deal thus, it is more focused on allowing sun glare into the building and avoiding unnecessary radiation by using a lot of verandah where east and west are more exposed.

ConclusionAlthough Tropical Architecture are very direct and very simple as its purpose is to build according the need of the climate, and its principle of respecting the site. A lot of thought process went through in order to successfully build an effective building.It is obvious that the main purpose of a house was achieved in both design and how important a role of space planning and materials used in building a good house.Thus, even though this two houses came from a very different eras, it still hold the same value and the same principle

References

Tuffs, R. (n.d.). Malaysia The Malay House: Rediscovering Malaysia's Indigenous Shelter System. By Lim Jee Yuan. Pulau Pinang: Institut Masyaraket, 1987. Pp. 152. Illustrations, Glossary, Bibliography. Building a Malay House. By Phillip Gibbs. Singapore: Oxford University. Jnl. of SE Asian Studs. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 206-206.

Lee, C. (2012). Rethink : A New Paradigm for Malaysian Timber. Kuala Lumpur: MPH Publishing.

Lim, J. (n.d.). TROPICAL ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from http://jimmylimdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TROPICAL-ARCHITECTURE-2.pdf