An organic, sustainable building at Universiti Malaya

THE building that houses Universiti Malaya’s new Malaya Graduate School of Business is the product of a successful collaboration between local architecture firm Akitek Reka­bina Sdn Bhd and Rome-based BiCuadro Architects.

The design of the building is the first that Reka­bina and BiCuadro worked on together and it won them a competition in 2010.

“We were able to combine the artistic flair of the Italian designers with our local environment. Simply put, this building is the best of the East and the West,” remarks Rekabina managing director Nazlan Baharudin.

“This was an important project for us,” says BiCuadro architect and partner Massimiliano Brugia. “We worked on it for about six years. So, seeing the completed building gives us a great sense of satisfaction.”

Built on a 1.9-acre plot that was previously used as a car park, the 4-storey building has concrete and glass cladding that blends well with the surroundings. Yet, it is unmistakable with its eight tall sinuous structures that start at the western front drop-off porch and end at the circular lecture theatre of the Faculty of Economics and Administration faculty across the main road. Just off the front drop-off porch is the main lobby that leads to a straight flight of stairs and the lift area.

According Nazlan, the building’s design was inspired by feng shui, where the “sinuous axial lines” symbolise the figure of eight. “Feng shui is about the flow of energy and feeling the spirit of the place. We instinctively designed the building in accordance with the flow of wind and water, and it somehow connected beautifully with the buildings around it, such as the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, and the Faculty of Economics and Administration,” he explains.

The eastern and western elevation of the building sees a free flowing form whereas the grids in the north and south remain rigid. “So, aesthetically, there are no two angles that look the same and the building’s interior and exterior give a different ambience during different times of the day, depending on the amount of light that falls on them. This is what makes the building alive,” Nazlan explains.

“This is what you call an organic building,” chips in Massimiliano. “Organic architecture is a branch of architecture that tries to establish a contact with the environment. For instance, its open design allows the energy surrounding the building to flow through,” he says.

The open design of the building allows daylight to stream through its glass façade and disperse throughout. Indeed, the building was conceptualised to be environmentally sustainable by using both passive and active design strategies.

Under the passive design strategy, most of the building’s external fenestration is oriented to face the north-south direction. For fenestration that is oriented towards the east-west direction, secondary components, such as staircases and landscaped balconies, are placed next to the windows to reduce the direct glare of the rising or setting sun.

Over the main spine of the building sits a glazed roof to diffuse daylight into the heart of the building through a 3-storey atrium, lighting up the interior and reducing the need for artificial light.

“In fact, if we had had a little bit more money to spare, we would have hung glass prisms to further reflect the light within the building,” says Nazlan.

Adding to the building’s sustainable element are its tall structures that form its primary cavity walls to channel rainwater into perimeter drains. The rainwater is also stored in a harvesting facility to be reused for irrigation purposes. The cavity walls also help keep the building cool by minimising thermal gain from the heat outside.

Under its active design strategy, the building is equipped with low-energy electrical luminaries and a locally controlled variable refrigerant volume air-conditioning system to ensure the energy bills are kept low. The university has also embedded fibre-optic strands in the building’s reinforced concrete structure to pick up computerised seismic movements as part of its research into geo-thematic behaviour as a possible future building design element for use against structural damage caused by earthquakes.

“We are working on getting the building registered for the Green Building Index,” says Nazlan.

On challenges and working together

The dynamic dimensions of the building’s design nevertheless posed some challenges to the architects and though it was scheduled to be completed in 2013, it was only finished this year.

“We underestimated the complexity of the design,” says Nazlan. “For example, when the frame of the glass roof was completed, we tried to fit the fabricated glass panels that are trapezoid in shape on site but couldn’t. So we had to cut the panels into half … diagonally. They then became triangulated and every piece was different … to fit our framework that was dynamic and fluid.

“We had to constantly liaise with our contractor on site to resolve the problems, from the setting up of the light fittings to the floor tiles.”

Nazlan has nothing but praise for the project’s team. “Everyone — the contractors, the structural and M&E engineers, the QS and the clients, lent their support. Everyone cooperated because they knew that the design was unique and they wanted to do a good job.”

The client, who requested complete anonymity, left the design of the building to the architects, asking only that they stay within the RM25 million budget, says Nazlan. The completed building looks like when it was first designed on paper except for a few small changes, “which is something rare for architects”, he remarks.

Another challenge was working long distance on the project. “As BiCuadro is based in Italy and we are in Malaysia, we had to make use of the internet and emails to communicate with each other. But the advantage of working in different time zones with a seven-hour difference was that we were like a 24-hour shop. So we capitalised on that, especially when we had to meet tight submission deadlines,” says Nazlan.

“We are lucky that we have had such good chemistry since we first met through the Venice Biennale in 2010. We work efficiently together because we understand each other very well. With their skills and natural instinct for good design, the BiCuadro team was able to quickly digest the information we fed them.”

Massimiliano says the relationship between the two firms is more than a business one. “This is a major partnership where friendship is involved as we got to know each other before we started working together. Our complementary relationship makes us successful.”

The design team for this project included BiCuadro architect and managing director Valerio Campio, who, according to Nazlan, was the brains behind the business school’s design and the one who helped envisage and develop the team’s input on paper, and Rekabina associate director Nor Hafidzah Alias.

This article first appeared in City & Country, a pullout of The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on Sept 12, 2016. Subscribe here for your personal copy.