Adaptive Reuse and Conservation

Status: Completion 2025

The Hang Kasturi building, a colonial-era structure located on Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur, requires a sensitive yet effective refurbishment approach. The project will focus on preserving the architectural integrity of the heritage façade while integrating modern engineering solutions. Structural reinforcement will ensure stability, particularly in the foundation and load-bearing walls. The refurbishment will include upgrading electrical and plumbing systems to meet current standards. The use of materials sympathetic to the original construction will maintain the building's historical value, while sustainable practices will be prioritized to enhance energy efficiency.

Client: Selangor Properties Berhad
Status: Completed 2022

Kompleks Pejabat Damansara (KPD) Block A is repurposed as an exquisite 3,700 sm boutique retail block. It presents itself to the main street before an ample esplanade of raw concrete with some inserts of granite and timber. The building and its new plaza, slightly raised from the adjacent Jalan Dungun, reveals a now difficult-to-miss urban space that activates the complex’s frontage and funnels people further inside. The site’s gentle slope allows creating two accesses to the building: one at the ground plane, open to the plaza; and another rear access, from the lower ground, more connected and convenient to the rest of the buildings within the complex.

Minimal, surgical interventions were rationalised over a streamlined budget. A double-storey glass box creates interest at the new frontage. Some double-storey curtain wall elements convey the new retail use of the building, making it more open and appealing to wanderers. Some new terraces and canopies are extended from the original 4-storey white cubic volume, creating alfresco opportunities and a convenient drop-off. The “umbrellas” deck doubles as a sculpture-like art installation at the plaza. The original façade is tidied up, some of the concrete fins and ledges are removed to bring more light in and to allow the new activities to be seen from outside; and the roof parapet is simplified, bringing a fresh, cleaner contemporary edge to the building. Inside, a well-crafted atrium is cut within the lower floors, revealing a new sense of openness and encouraging guests to transit across the building and to visit the upper floors without disturbing the original utilitarian office block vertical circulations.

The interiors are kept simple – a combination of terrazzo on the floor and exposed services and concrete slabs. The colour accents are only left to the wayfinding and to the 15 tenants – an array of cosy, boutique and business outlets with some convenient services at the disposal of the surrounding office crowd.

Location : Penang
Status : Completed 2022

VERITAS Interiors and VERITAS Architects Penang collaborated with JKR Penang to restore and upgrade the Residence of the Governor of Penang, an important heritage building on the island.

The history of Seri Mutiara, as the building is known, dates back to 1888, when a decision was made to build the official residence of the Resident Councilor of Penang on the site in front of the Polo Ground in Georgetown. Seri Mutiara was at that time known as the Residency. The grounds surrounding it today are immaculately kept. It is also home to several very interesting trees, forming a mini botanic garden which, unfortunately, is not open to the public.

The residence accommodates the family of the Governor as well as spaces for official entertainment. The interior design concept of the residence stayed true to the British Colonial character of the building with a few modern touches such as the kitchen and living spaces. Monochromatic tiles and marble juxtaposed against crisp white wainscoting and gold chinoiserie are just some examples of the restoration within this beautiful home.

Client : Sek Thim
Located at the boundary of the Core Heritage Zone gazetted as a Unesco World Heritage site in the historical heart of Georgetown, this project would function both as a space for the arts and a small hotel. The intention was to have the hotel business support the activities in the art-space. The history of the building, its previous function as a home and then a warehouse, was somehow to be acknowledged as well. challenge coming to an understanding of what renovating a heritage building meant. The challenge was in finding an acceptable balance between past and present, how much and which aspects of the building should one keep and how much to remove, at which point of the building’s historical evolution does one cut off and preserve or restore?

The original building is a typical Straits Chinese townhouse which, apart from the air-well, provide little access to natural light. A distinguishing feature of this existing shophouse is that the party wall peels away from the side to reveal a narrow sliver of land next to it that was not built up. The design opens one side of the house out into this space and on the other side, pulled away from the party wall, thereby maximizing the potential for natural light to infiltrate the otherwise dark spaces. The design opened one side of the house out into this space, and on the other side, pulled away from the party-wall, thereby maximizing the potential for natural light to infiltrate otherwise dark spaces.  

The rear half of the shophouse was compromised in integrity and structure due to age and had to make way for a completely modern structure. The courtyard is where the old wing of the front portion confronts the new, where one will be able to experience fully the unapologetic intervention of a modern structure in a 19th century house. Conceptually its where the present faces the past, the premise of the entire design. It is also the space to be outside while actually being inside.   It’s a place where one can experience most dramatically the changing light conditions throughout the day. The long-winded monsoon rains, which will also have its own canvas here to fully express itself.

Client :  Lee Rubber (Selangor) Sdn Bhd
The project is a refurbishment of the original 29 storey Wisma Lee Rubber, a building located on a square shaped lot of Jalan Melaka at the heart of the business district of the old city centre.  The original building was constructed during the late 1980s in a late international style that featured an extruded rectangular volume framed by vertical brace structure capped at the top by strong horizontal lines of the floor plates that extend over the line of the building envelope. The architect sought to simplify the lines of the building by subduing the horizontal expression of the building, extending the building envelope to the edge of the floor slab to create a seamless curtain wall facade.

In doing so, additional space around the perimeter of the building was reclaimed for use. The 4-cornered structural bracing is re-clad in stainless steel, drawing light along the full height of the elevation. The combined effect is a clarification of the building’s geometry and the accentuation of the building’s verticality. The 5 levels of cantilevered penthouses crowning the building are unified in a single geometry to be read as transparent, delicate glass box. Illuminated at night, it transforms into a floating glass box. At street level, a steel and glass porte-cochere is extended with a glass roof canopy to create a semi-outdoor verandah with a sidewalk café to engage the vibrant street life of the neighbourhood.

Client : DRB - Hicom Bhd
Built in 1914-1917, the Ipoh Railway Station is the main station for the Rawang to Ipoh Electrified Double Track Project. The proposed rehabilitation and expansion of the Ipoh Railway Station takes into consideration its status as a living historical monument. It is therefore designed to recapture the glory of the golden age of rail as well as to herald the new age of high speed rail travel.The modern new extension pays respect to the existing station building while opening up the platform to the grand railway hall.

Client : American International Assurance Co. Ltd. / AIG  Global Real Estate Corp
The rehabilitation of the former Wisma AIA building, headquarters of American International Assurance in Kuala Lumpur entailed a complete refurbishment of both façade and interior, the addition of a new 4 storey car park and a 2 storey penthouse. The original building was a 16 storey building built in the 1960s, with a façade of aluminum sun-shades which obstructed views. While the general form and architectural layout of the building was mostly maintained, the new façade introduced of a double-glazed curtain wall of aluminum and granite panels, which reduced thermal transmission. The verticality of the tower is accentuated by aluminum-clad columns running the entire height of the building. The introduction of new building services and additional penthouse floors increased the load on the old structure, requiring the usage of carbon fiber to strengthen the structure.

Client : UDA Holdings
Pudu Sentral became the Urban Transformation Centre for Kuala Lumpur. The link between Star LRT &  bus terminal.