ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROJECT [ARC 3127] Project 1c Design Report
Name: Lucas Wong Kok Hoe Student ID: 0309421 Tutor: Mr. Caleb
1.0 OUTLINE 1.1 ABSTRACT
Architecture is not just about buildings itself but also the people who uses the space for their daily activities. Architecture affects the mood, emotion, views and also inspires one in their thoughts and imaginations. After considering the users, the surrounding context and the climate factors will eventually be the catalyst which will activate the site effectively. The problem to achieving these are the lack of understanding and misuse of certain elements when designing an optimal design for users. Therefore, the study of the green building design was to counter the negative effects from the factors that affect the users behaviours when looking at or in the architecture itself.
1.2 INTRODUCTION
Architecture for people, place and time. This is the architecture position that we developed within the theme of 'sustaining humanities'. The UNESCO Center of Linguistics and Cultural Arts is a center where the local community and foreigners get to come together to learn about the culture and language of the Kristang Community of Malacca. The target operators of the Center would be the Kristang Community because the Center was designed for them to recollect their identity as a Malaysian Portuguese community that will cease to exist in the near future if their cultures are forgotten. Thus, this center will allow other UNESCO Centers around the world to collaborate and share the knowledge and language of their community to anyone who wishes to study and learn about the culture which once travelled the world for their conquest of expansion.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this project was to allow the Kristang Community to retain their culture and language from becoming extinct in the near future as it was listed in the Red Book of Endangered Language by UNESCO. The objectives of the project were to enroll foreigners to participate in the Kristang community's events, exchange programs, knowledge sharing, research collections and exhibitions done by the community in the Center.
2.0 CONTEXTUAL STUDY 2.1 SITE INTRODUCTION
The site of the project is located in Malacca. One of the reason this site has to be in Malacca is because the target operators are the Kristang community from Malacca. Another valid reason was because Malacca is listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in South East Asia. The site is situated beside the Portuguese Restaurant in the Portuguese Settlement. To the right of the site was used to be the Lisbon Hotel but was bought over by Lim Kok Wing University after they failed in their business management. This project will be converting the existing parking zone into the UNESCO Center.
The Gross Site Area of the proposed site is approximately 4177.85 sqm which covers the parking zone entirely. After the setback of 3m for greenery and 50ft fron the sea front, the nett area of the buildable space is reduced to 1.574 sqm. With that, the project is confined with the building law requirement.
2.2 SITE HISTORY In 1509,the Portuguese came seeking the wealth of the spice and China trades, but after an initially friendly reception, the Malaccans attacked the Portuguese fleet and took a number of prisoners. This prompted an outright assault by the Portuguese, and in 1511 Alfonso de Albuquerque took the city, forcing the sultan to flee to Johor, where he re-established his kingdom. Under the Portuguese, the fortress of A’Famosa was constructed, and missionaries like St Francis Xavier strove to implant Catholicism. While Portuguese cannons could easily conquer Melaka, they could not force Muslim merchants from Arabia and India to continue trading there.
By the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company began contesting Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress, the Fortaleza de Malaca, controlling access to the sea lanes of the Straits of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The Dutch eventually wrested Malacca from Portuguese in 1641. The Portuguese ports in the spice-producing areas of Mollucas also fell to the Dutch in the following years. With these conquests, the last Portuguese colonies in Asia remained confined to Portuguese Timor, Goa, Daman and Diu in Portuguese India and Macau until the 20th century. This was followed by period of prosecutions of the Catholics in Malacca by the Dutch. Churches were destroyed and Catholics were not permitted to have their own cemeteries or even pray in their homes. Priests were also forbidden to administer their flocks. The war of the Spanish Succession resulted in an alliance formed between the Portuguese and the Dutch in 1703. This resulted the Dutch adopted a softer stance towards the Portuguese Catholics. After years of prosecutions, a piece of land was donated by a Dutch convert and the St. Peter's Church was built in 1710.
Figure 1. Location Plan
In 1933, 11 hectares of land at Malacca were purchased with the purpose of creating a haven for scattered Kristang and their culture. The swampy land was cleared and 10 wooden houses with earth floors and attap roofs were built. Saint John's village, as that simple fishing village was originally known, soon attracted additional Kristang from all over Malaysia, and grew to become one of Malacca's main tourist attractions, improving the standard of living of its villagers forming the Portuguese Settlement today.
Figure 2. Site Plan
2.0 CONTEXTUAL STUDY 2.3 SITE ISSUES 1. One of the issues that affects the visitors to the site is the lack of shading. Due to the fact that the poposed site is a parking zone, not many trees were planted and is also possible that they reduced the trees for viewing purposes and needed empty spaces for their events and festival where many people urge in to celebrate.
3. Future Development of the reclaimed land will affect the views to and from the site. The high rise will cover most of the sea views and routes for boats on the Straits of Malacca. The changes made from the year 2005 to 2015 was immensely great and will continue to develop in the years to come.
Figure 5. Future Development near the site.
2.4 URBAN STUDIES Most of the buildings surrounding the site are residential buildings of the Portuguese Settlement. The highlighted blues are commercial buildings consisting of shoplots and Hotels. The buildings to the right of the site is the Lim Kok Wing University and SMK Canossa Convent. Beside the Portuguese Square is a church for the Portuguese Settlement and the public. Most of the buildings do not exceed 2 storeys giving it a low level of skyline.
Figure 3. Existing Site Vegetation Diagram
2. Entrance to site is not obvious from the main road. The only thing indicating towards the site is a sign board installed at one of the lanes leading to the site. Visitors mainly visit the site through tour buses or local taxis.
Figure 4. Entrance to Site Figure 6. Zoning of the site
3.0 DESIGN & SOCIAL IMPACT 3.1 MICRO SITE ANALYSIS
Figure 9. Vehicular Access
Vehicular Access Most of the local access to the site on foot because the site is not restricted by walls or gates which obstructs the flow of people.
Figure 7. Level of Activity
Nodes The main nodes of the site are the junctions where the local community walk to take the public transport to school, work or out of the village. The next gathering spot is the community space on the right and the chapel on the weekends. During weekdays, the school's entrance has the highest number of people. The site has an existing Seafood Restaurant which has the highest activity at night due to the tourist and local attraction. The level of activity during the weekdays varies according to the amount of people coming in.
Figure 8. Circulation map
Circulation The main road connecting to the main access to the site is Jalan Ujong Pasir. Tourist bus usually uses this route access to the site. The secondary circulations are then branched out into the settlement leading to other locations. The tertiary circulations are connected from the secondary circulation to the back lanes of the houses and shoplots.
Figure 10. Surrounding Context
Surrounding Context Situated at the left of the site is the Seafood Restaurant. The building behind the site is the Portuguese Square and opposite of the square is the SMK Canossa Convent. At the right of the site is the Lim Kok Wing University.
3.0 DESIGN & SOCIAL IMPACT 3.2 PRECEDENT STUDY Costa Nova Social and Cultural Center Architects: ARX Portugal Location: Av. Nossa Sra. da Saúde, 3830 Gafanha da Encarnação, Portugal Architect in Charge: ARX Portugal Area: 1420.0 sqm Project Year: 2015 Figure 12. Costa Nova Social and Cultural Center Views One of the main conceptual assumptions behind the current project is Costa Nova's original building typology. The project wishes to reinterpret, in a clearly contemporary way, Costa Nova's characteristic and ancestral ways of looking at a place and building it. This is why the whole construction, made entirely of wood, as the original “palheiros”, seats on a semi-buried foundation mesh in reinforced concrete, as to stable the building that will “hover” over the dune. This conceptual strategy also aims to take advantage of building on a lower ground by creating a convenient and flowing connection to the rooftop where one can enjoy a wide ocean view. As a counterweight, and following natural topography, the public walkway stretches into the heart of the building, creating a new wooden public square, as a forecourt, that leads the visitor inside and protects from the wind.
3.3 DESIGN INTENTION The UNESCO Center was intended to help the Kristang Community to reclaim their identity which is on the verge of extinction if the coming years as their language has been listed in the Red Book of Endangered Language. The center will help the younger generations to understand more about their roots and history in Malacca.
3.4 PROJECT PROPOSAL Figure 11. Costa Nova Social and Cultural Center The building is located on the Costa Nova dunes, between the beach and the Avenue Nossa Senhora da Saúde leading to it. The sand is cut by a wide net of wooden walkways, which go over the dunes and allow pedestrian crossing from the urban cluster to the beach. To the east, the street is mainly composed by small apartment buildings, two or three stories high. At street level there's no actual sea view but one can sense its presence beyond the dune.
The UNESCO Center proposed on this site would focus more on the Culture and Education of the Kristang Community. The objective was to sustain the Kristang Language and their culture from being forgotten in the mere future. The Center targets to collect all the researches did around the world and to be stored in the library of the center for future references. Researches such as recordings, paper research, videos, and architecture can greatly help the community to understand their origins in Malaysia and Portugal. Musics and Dances can be taught and performed in the stage designed in the Center. The Center also embraces the sea to help the community celebrate their celebrations that brings them back to the sea.
3.0 DESIGN & SOCIAL IMPACT 3.5 SITE RESPONSE The UNESCO Center orientates the middle block to connect the Portuguese Square to the plaza of the seafront which creates a pathway for users to move through after their visit to the square. The parallel connection to the seafood restaurant compliments the plaza during the night giving more activities and views from the center. The existing 24 ft service lane is merged with the UNESCO Center to be converted into a drive through lane for tourist bus to turn around the site.
Figure 13. Site Response Diagram
4.0 BUILDING SCIENCES / ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES 4.1 Orientation 4.1.1 Sun Path
4.1.2 Wind Path
The longgest facades of the building are oriented to the North and South of the site to allow more daylighting into the building. The shortest facades are oriented to the East and West of the site to reduce the amount of heat gain from the Morning and Evening Sun.
The prevailing wind from the sea gives an advantage to the site. Due to the lack of shading, the prevailing wind helps to cool down the site during the day by providing drafts throughout the day. It is also complimented by the site beecause there are no high rise blocking the wind from moving to the land.
Figure 14. Sun path diagram
Figure 15. Wind path Diagram
4.0 BUILDING SCIENCES / ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES 4.2 Sun Shading
EVENING SUN
MORNING SUN
Figure 16. Sun shading diagram
Figure 18. Spring Equinox March
Figure 18. Summer Solstice June
Due to the lack of shading on site, the building has to be designed to shade itself during the peak hours of the sun where heat gain is at its maximum point. The UNESCO Center is designed to have an overhang of 2 meters to allow more shading into the spaces.
Figure 17. Average Sunshine in Malacca Figure 19. Fall Equinox September
Figure 20. Winter Solstice December
4.0 BUILDING SCIENCES / ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES 4.3 VENTILATION
Figure 21. Cross Ventilation Diagram
The sea breeze flows into the building through the large openigs at the East and West Facades allowing cross ventilation to occur. Due to the difference in the height of the blocks, the hot air rises and vents out of the blocks to the roof of the building. This causes stack ventilation which will cool the interior of the building. Due to the prevailing wind from the north and south of the building, the facades will reduce the strong winds from hitting the interior of the building. The building uses more natural ventilation than artificial ventilation.
Figure 23. Average Wind Speed Diagram Malacca
Figure 22. Wind Rose Diagram
4.0 BUILDING SCIENCES / ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES 4.3 RAIN WATER HARVESTING Rain water
Repump for Domestic Use rain water storage Figure 22. Rain Water Harvesting
Malaysia is a tropical country where rain falls throughout the year. Rainwaater is harvested during rain and stored in the underground water tank for domestic uses such as toilet and landscaping. Excess water will be discharged to the sea or be stored away into the water storage in the Seafood Restaurant as a backup storage.