Rejuvenating Our Cities
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MALAYSIA FEBRUARY 2018 | ISSUE 11 | RM25 PP19040/06/2016 (034532) FEBRUARY ISSUE FEBRUARY REJUVENATING OUR CITIES PROGRESS WITHOUT LOSING OUR IDENTITY THE LYKKE FACTOR: THE CASE FOR COMMUNAL LIVING RETURN TO THE RIVER, DRIVING OVER TREETOPS, FROM SAWDUST TO DINER AND MORE DO MORE Made to measure, the EC200D crawler excavator delivers simple and efficient performance, so you can lift and load for less. Thanks to the fuel- efficient Volvo D5 engine, advanced hydraulic system and improved controllability, you can count on the EC200D to deliver a smooth and efficient operation – all from the comfort of the industry-leading Volvo cab. www.volvoce.com VOLVO EC200D Advert_EC200D_T3_APAC_A4_EN.indd 1 05/10/2017 10:01 PUBLISHED BY: Construction+ Supporting Associations BCI Asia Construction Information Sdn Bhd Unit 1106, Block B Phileo Damansara II Jalan 16/11, Section 16 Construction Industry Development 46350 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Board (CIDB) Malaysia Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) Malaysia (www.cidb.gov.my) (www.dbkl.gov.my) t (603) 7661-1380 f (603) 7661-1381 e (editorial) [email protected] EDITORIAL TEAM: managing editor Candice Lim Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysian Association of senior editor Joanna Sze Malaysia (ILAM) Facility Management (MAFM) assistant editor Lim Yi Zuo (www.ilamalaysia.org) (www.mafm.org.my) contributing editor Aylwin Chooi Weng Kheong GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Muhammad Syahmi Mohamad Asmari; Hans Lim Malaysia Green Building Malaysian Interior Industry Partners ADVERTISING AND PUBLISHING SALES CONSULTANT: Confederation (MGBC) Association (MIIP) Lee Loong Fei (www.mgbc.org.my) (www.miip.com.my) e (advertising) [email protected] PRINTER: M A L A Y S I A Yamagata (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY Lot P.T. 1661, Nilai Industrial Estate, Malaysian Timber Ministry of International P.O. Box 9, 71809 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Industry Board (MTIB) Trade and Industry (MITI) t (606) 799-2814 (www.mtib.gov.my) (www.miti.gov.my) f (606) 799-8060 While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained herein is accurate, the publisher will not accept any liability for omissions or errors. The publisher is not responsible for statements or opinions expressed by the writers nor do such Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia statements necessarily represent the views of the publisher unless stated otherwise. (www.rics.org/ASEAN) (www.rism.org.my) BCI Asia Construction Information Sdn Bhd disclaims any and all liability, which may be claimed arising out of reliance upon the information presented in this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the publisher’s prior written permission. Waste Management The Federation of Malaysia Hardware, Publication frequency: Bimonthly (6 issues per year) Association of Malaysia Machinery & Building Materials Dealers’ (www.wmam.org) Association (FMHMBA) (www.mhmba.org.my) SEADMA SEA Drymix Mortar Association (www.seadma.org) COVER CREDIT: www.facebook.com/constructionplusasia/ Neoclassical architecture at Medan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur, against modern building façades @ConstructionPlusAsia @CPlusAsia FOREWORD “Building new neighbourhoods from the Internet up, taking the great principles of urban planning and accelerating them into the digital age.” This ambitious mission statement is by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet subsidiary, which is disrupting property and construction players in its attempt to “reimagine cities to improve quality of life”. This is the first trend facing the Malaysian construction industry today—disruption by outsiders. The construction industry has traditionally been an innovation laggard, leading to ripe pickings along the construction value chain for outsiders who excel at “moving fast and breaking things”. The second trend facing the Malaysian construction industry is the push for sustainable construction, in its broadest sense. One key aspect of sustainability is urban rejuvenation— increasing efficiency in the use of space through adaptive reuse of existing building stock. Cities cannot continue to grow through sprawl. The built environment has to meet the needs of all segments of society, not just that of higher income groups. The sustainability theme is aligned with the ninth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9) that was held in Kuala Lumpur in early February 2018. The New Urban Agenda is an accelerator to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In line with this, Think City, in collaboration with DBKL, developed a micro-housing prototype—a smaller, affordable housing alternative—in downtown Kuala Lumpur (more on page 10). Micro-housing brings us back to the first trend mentioned—industry disruption. Sidewalk, which is promoting its own take on micro-housing, the Loft, foresees that 80 per cent of building types (e.g., retail, F&B, offices, education, light factories, storage) can eventually fit into one flexible use category. Cities can then evolve to match changing user needs, allowing neighbourhoods to be dynamic. Hence, there are three possible scenarios for Malaysian construction players. First, you can continuously learn and adapt to stay relevant, potentially even becoming global sustainability and innovation leaders. Second, you can be dragged kicking and screaming into a world filled with disruptive competitors of all shapes and sizes. Finally, you can stubbornly choose to remain on the sidelines and watch as others take bigger pieces of the pie. Let us work together to achieve that first scenario and stand firm in making decisions that benefit our many communities in building resilient and sustainable cities in Malaysia. Hamdan Abdul Majeed Executive director of Think City Sdn Bhd 3 COMING SOON: An All-New Edition of Architecture@18! Architecture@18 features projects situated across the Asia-Pacific region—China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Scheduled to start construction in 2018, they will help define the modern city of Asia in the near future. These profiles come with project descriptions and information, as well as images. They are selected every year from over 100,000 future projects reported by BCI Asia and BCI Australia researchers. In compiling information on these projects, BCI researchers interview half a million architects, developers, engineers and contractors. In addition to projects, a dedicated section called technologies@18 also highlights building technologies that enable architecture to evolve rapidly, providing a reference guide of innovative and intelligent solutions for architects, engineers and developers. Each review is presented in an easy-to-read format describing the products and/or services of a leading manufacturer in each field. PRE-ORDER NOW TO GET IT AT RM100! (usual price SGD38) Contact us at 03-7661 1380 or [email protected]. EDITOR’S LETTER Dear readers, Cities around the world have been under the spotlight lately. After all, by 2030, it is estimated that 5 billion of the world’s 8.5 billion population will be living in urban centres, and that seven out of the 10 largest metropolises will be in East and South Asia. How, then, can we build better cities that people will be happy to call home? This was the key issue discussed at the ninth World Urban Forum, hosted in Kuala Lumpur in February 2018. This international platform is dedicated to exploring new solutions to the challenges facing today’s cities, with a focus on the implementation of The New Urban Agenda, an urbanisation action blueprint towards making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Recently, I had an opportunity to join a guided walking tour through downtown Kuala Lumpur. Beginning at Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad—which housed the British colonial administration offices back in the 19th century—we made our way through Petaling Street and rows of pre-war shophouses, interspersed with Chinese and Hindu temples and pop-up clothing stalls catering to the migrant worker community. One of the highlights was walking by the banks of the River of Life, a mega-urban project (featured on page 36) designed to re-establish and re-introduce the historic and economic significance of Kuala Lumpur’s rivers. It occurred to me that we are more inclined to tour distant cities but neglect the one in our own backyards, so, it was refreshing to get acquainted with my own city. Although it may be a little messy, and sometimes quite dirty, but there’s a familiarity and comfort in the chaos, the mishmash of old and new, the melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. We went home that day with a new perspective and a deeper appreciation of the good, the bad and the ugly that make this concrete jungle our jungle. In rediscovering cities, such as Kuala Lumpur, we will also find that which is truly worth restoring and preserving—its history, heritage and identity—even as we embrace change and development in a globalising world. In this issue of Construction+, academician Dr Shireen Jahn Kassim talks about architecture as a form of resistance and culture as a key driver of urban growth (page 14), while historian Serge Jardin explains how interior design is vital in creating a city’s evolving identity (page 32). Joanne Mun of Think City discusses the idea of repurposing unused old buildings into communal living spaces to draw people back to live in the city (page 10). After all, cities should be a home for all—not just for the rich or the foreign workers. We also take a look at the transformation of a former saw mill into a dining destination in Penang, and the completion of the long-drawn Rawang Bypass project, which used pioneering construction methods to protect as much of the environment as possible. We introduce a new section, Upcoming Projects, which highlights some of the oncoming developments at various stages. So, read on and enjoy.