House No.16 is located in Damansara Heights, a leafy residential suburb in Kuala Lumpur. The client is a young couple and their lovely pets. They had acquired an old 1970s bungalow that had been vacant for some time. The brief was to refurbish and add new living spaces to accommodate their needs.
The old basic two-storey bungalow had a small, simple rectangle plan. It was constructed in a combination of RC slab flooring and had certain upper floor areas with timber joists and floorboards. This allowed conceptualising a clean, modern intervention into the old structure whilst achieving an industrial vibe. One long side of the house has a 6m high retaining wall which provided good privacy and the opportunity to create a lively, colourful garden that integrates into the interior living spaces.
A series of large garden views were opened into the existing walls to extend the lines of sight and bring the outdoor areas in. The front section of the house is extended out with a new steel, raw brick and glass section. The front yard is zoned into car parking and a private front lawn with the use of a horizontal raw brick wall.
The upstairs was redesigned to accommodate the new master bedroom, study, entertainment spaces and future room for children. The overall exercise resulted in a simple modern intervention that integrates all aspects of the site, gardens, retaining walls and the recycling of the existing building structure thus a small textbook example of good tropical and green architecture.
