Principal and Design Director of RSP Architects Kuala Lumpur, Ar. Hud Bakar casually explained that the design brief he got from the senior management of EPF on their new Headquarters was simple. The top executives just wanted a box i.e., a simple building, to which he replied to them, “You want a box, don’t worry, I will give you an out-of-the-box box, an extraordinary box!”. He took into consideration the form of a box in architecture and how a simple structure can be transformed into an architectural masterpiece.There are a few of ways to make a square interesting i.e., tilting the cube, adding and subtracting, giving it an emphasis in juxtaposition, including protrusions and extrusions – typically used for balconies, chopping the forms, clustering, or stacking it, extending the edges, or simply break it.Out of the many formulas, he combined a few to create a new design equation best fit for KWASA Damansara township, and above all else, to house the new EPF HQ.
The barren land of KWASA Damansara in Sungai Buloh was formerly a rubber estate and the new EPF HQ stands within 3.5 acres of land from its total of 30 acres land plot to be developed, facing the busier-by-day main road, Jalan Sungai Buloh.Having the benefit of the busy traffic, the location of the building holds prominence as compared to other parts of the land which are reserved for commercial buildings. It is a strategic site suitable for a landmark with the road frontage and visibility from the connecting highways.To add to that, it is just 500 meters from the new KWASA Damansara MRT Station. Practicality for the public was negotiated while an architectural marvel was emphasised.
The building stretches out to 720,000 sqftgross floor area with a net floor area of 570,000 sqft. It consists of 12 levels with voluminous shared communal lobby.It is a conducive office building with facilities such as a conference hall, seminar/meeting rooms, cafeteria, fitness centre, creche/nursery, surau and a convenience store.Overall, it may occupy up to 2,000 staff, spread across various zones, from low to high security i.e., customer fronting, support services departments, trading departments as well as the board room and C-suite office.
“The past shapes the present”, as shared by Ar. Hud Bakar in a radio interview on Malaysian-inspired architecture. Architects may refer to the Malaysian past to design the form of any new building. The references may come in tangible or non-tangible qualities. He asserted that it could also come from the spirit of the past, a more lateral approach rather than literal.Other blatant influences may include history, climate, flora and fauna, culture, religion, food, and of course, the people.
Malaysia has its fair share of relatively deconstructivist architecture. If one strolls along Bukit Bintang; Menara YTL and Starhill Gallery, the Mesiniaga Tower in Subang Jaya, Cascades in Kota Damansara with Mitraland Tower and even the Merdeka 118 has a tad of deconstructivist form with the crystalline façade. Although it is inspired by the silhouette of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman’s figure.However, none of the aforementioned buildings were deconstructed from a cube. Against our tropical weather’s momentary blue sky, the new EPF HQ building appears like a blue Rubik’s cube or a collective of Jenga blocks placed next to a highway.If one throws back to the 1960s, the setting seems to some extent like the shadow of the former EPF Headquarters building by the Federal Highway, along Jalan Gasing in Petaling Jaya.In this context, the spirit of the past lives on, as the former headquarters building was regarded as an iconic mid-century modern style, and it did 35 good years to serve as EPF’s corporate office.However, what one will see at KWASA Damansara, Sungai Buloh is the contemporised representation of the architecture, a present-day building.
Deconstructing a large-scale cube is a rare architecture in Malaysia and probably the first and one of its kind. The form is so relevant and of current times that it’d fit into an NFT Art or in Michael Bay’s “Transformers” saga.However, little do we realise that despite looking like a box from the exterior, it comprised two towers conjoined via a wide link bridge. Due to the extensive size of the link bridge, it does not function just as a connection but rather to fit a few smaller departmental offices and a sky courtyard.Whilst retaining the box structure, the middle part of the building was scooped out in a slanted manner to make place for an outdoor ground-level courtyard and most importantly to give a good vantage view of the upcoming central park. This view can be enjoyed from the bridge as well as the C-suite office.Meanwhile, the ground-level courtyard is also designed with a reflecting pool and fortified with a floating sculpture by local architecture students named “Rings of Unity”, reflecting EPF’s organisational values and culture which aspire to transformation and growth.
Other elements which made the form of the new EPF Headquarters building monumental within the design context are that it added and subtracted, pushed, and pulled variable forms of cubes which made the building appear protruding and extruding from various external angles.For the corporate marquee, an impression of a tall tower made of concrete slab wall juxtaposes within to house the EPF logo on top. This marquee is visible from a distance as well as when one enters the car park to give just the right extent of corporate significance.Overall, the building attempts to establish a landmark eminence as it is the primary high-rise building within the vicinity. This positioning is for the convenience of a sense of direction and identification for the public.
In times when ground scrapers are preferred over skyscrapers and tech giants like Google and Apple favour simple buildings for their headquarters, EPF made no exception to follow suit.The byline after the design brief was “To provide a workplace like a campus”. By this, it means a space for work and play, fun for the millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z, while remaining comfortable for the senior management.
Before one enters the cafeteria or the tailgate security entrance on the first floor, an elongated skylight above greets an abundance of natural daylighting. It is one of the salient features as part of its sustainability measure.Then on the right wing, the cafeteria spreads widely overlooking the courtyard with low lounge, standard and cubical café seating, indoor and outdoor.A continuous element of colours was infused throughout the interior design, except for the C-suite office which remained monotonous for conservativity.
As a whole, the building applies an open layout office concept whereby spaces are designed as free columns to occupy hot desk arrangement. A co-sharing space is also dedicated to an entire floor for staff usage.These settings are in tandem with EPF’s corporate culture which encourages transparency, open communication, and progress.While these are happening indoors, a similar communal ideology is applied to the outdoor sky courtyard on the link bridge as a wide breather space. Casual discussions, brainstorming and gatherings may also be held outside in the open air with ample space and seating.Scattered around the office floors are additional pockets of minor indoor recreational space with reading/discussion corners alongside bean bags, ping-pong, foosball and pool tables, dart gameboard as well as arcade game machines.
An important highlight is the spiral staircase on the trading floor that leads to the secured upper floors. It is equipped with an all-glass trading room at the centre core of the space. The entire floor has limited access with unhackable tight security.
Responding to climate change, it is only relevant to design with sustainability in mind. The EPF HQ is essentially part of a Grand Green Masterplan of Plot C8 by Kwasa Damansara. It is the first building situated as Plot 1 on Plot C8 to be built with numeral sustainable measures.Aside from green construction and the mandatory rainwater harvesting system, the building sits on a prime vantage point of land viewing and is open to the future green central park. Green areas are integral in the whole master plan of the mixed-use development.
The EPF HQ building is also equipped with photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftop for powering appliances, equipment and most importantly the computer server, while heat-reduced means are imbued in the choice of material used such as Double-Glazing Unit Glass panels for office windows.These together with natural daylighting are some of the smart solutions and energy-saving procedures put in place to make the building green.As sustainability also plays a major role for the people or occupants of the building, the EPF HQ is designed with pedestrian and bicycle-friendly access. It is paired with facilities such as a bicycle track, rack, and storage system.In planning ahead of time, once the township is fully matured, people may cycle to the office from home or MRT station and even service or clean their two-wheelers in the provided dedicated room.It is conveniently designed so that a changing room with shower and locker cubicles are made available proximate to the room as well as the gymnasium and exit.
