Residential in Malacca (Malaysia)

The project site is localized to Melaka's city in the south-west of malaysia's state. The aim is to design a housing project in pairs for the given site of 9 acres (about 40,000 sq. meters) for 50 units but to concentrate on the hatched area of the given site plan which is about 20,000 sq. meters. The housing design could be considered as a segment of a comprehensive development or a housing development with large common spaces. All planning regulation have to follow international standards, noticeably the building set back towards the river is 9 meters, the number of car parking will depend on the housing with a minimum of 1 parking for each dwelling unit and for the other building development will be based on 1 parking lot for 50 m/sq of gross floor area. We should show appreciation of the state government's effort to propagate mangrove swamp as an ecological river filtrating system within the site. Even though there is no strict stipulation of height restriction, we are limited them to 4 stories. Parking area is situated under the hill near the residential area; there are about 60 lots. The flooding problem related to the creek behavior produces the choice to hang up the building to the top of a pale system. Considering the strong raining and the intense sun irradiation we choose a roof system in order to protect the building from the rain and form the sun rays. The different kind of copper panels create a colorful pattern. A Photovoltaic system is located on the roof. The rain water is collected in order to produce electricity by waterwheel. The housing development is a composition of three types of residential unit (60mq, 100mq, 140mq); the total is 54 residential unit. Bamboo facing is used on the front facade in order to activate a natural ventilation. This façade is spliced by copper elements. The structure is made of steel with profilhaus for a good and fast assembly. Natural fibers are used for thermal and acoustic insulation. The project has gained international recognition and won many prices globally: 08/2010 (Venezia) “S_M_L Residential Building in Malaysia”Venezia Biennale2010; 05/2009 (Ferrara) 1st Place ex-aequo “International Prize for Sustainable Architecture Fassa Bortolo”; 07/2008 (London) 2nd Place “Corus Architects Award 2008”; 02/2008 (L.A.) Finalist group “Metropolis Next generation design competition 2008”; 01/2008 (Hessen) 1st Place “TECU Architecture Award 2007”; 10/2007 (Lecco) 1st Place “Premio Lecco per l’architettura sostenibile 2007”;