The project provided us with an opportunity to address the frontage of a prominent roundabout at Bandar Baru Selayang. The two main components are ‘Edge 18’, which consists of 18 units of commercial 4-storey strata shop office and ‘Selayang 18’ which consists of 2 blocks of serviced apartments, 360 units in total, and a car park podium. At the podium level, the clubhouse forms the single most important element of the development housing all the major communal facilities. It is also designed with an accessible green roof. The concept of the clubhouse is a very transparent and outward-looking pavilion. It is designed with a shallow footprint to encourage cross-ventilation and natural lighting. Both towers’ sky gardens not only expand the usable outdoor green spaces to the rooftop but also house a plethora of complimentary relaxation facilities that lifted the standards higher than the normal pool and gym combo.
ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION
The architecture is a sleek modern glass and concrete structure that act as a backdrop for a resort living in the city suburb. The façade was carefully thought of as a series of modern lanais equipped with aluminium sliding panels on the exterior to create privacy for the units (screen off the unwanted sight of the clothes drying at balconies) as well as giving the towers an outlook of exclusivity. Contrary to the curtain wall façade system, this version of permeable screens has taken a step ahead to redefine tropical high-rise living with its 48% green ratio coverage. The vertical aluminium screens also help to reduce the solar heat intake for Tower B with its east-west orientation hence giving better thermal comfort to its residents.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
The landscape formed an integral part of our architectural design right from the conceptual design stage. For Selayang18, the landscape is given optimum attention and it is “merged” with the architecture of the building. At the rooftop, trees adorn the crowns of the lift core and pavilions while on the podium level, the green roof of the clubhouse became a viewing pleasure instead of an eyesore on the rooftop of the clubhouse. Various pocket gardens located outside of the lift lobbies also encourage more community interactions. Other green features include a rainwater harvesting tank for re-use in irrigation, hanging pocket gardens and innovative sky lobbies.
The façade was carefully thought of as a series of modern lanais equipped with aluminium sliding panels on the exterior to create privacy for the units (screen off the unwanted sight of the clothes
drying at balconies) as well as giving the towers an outlook of exclusivity.
The concept of the clubhouse is a very transparent and outward-looking pavilion. It is designed with a shallow footprint to encourage cross-ventilation and natural lighting.
