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 / PHOTOGRAPHY PIXELAW PHOTOGRAPHY

/ WORDS NIZAR MUSA

CAPTURED
HORIZON
A site-inspired scheme reflects an architect’s
original take on a detached dwelling in the
Negeri Sembilan countryside.

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F
ollowing a years-long Italian
sojourn, a return to native Malaysia
for a professional couple marked a
chapter of new opportunities.
On the agenda was starting a business,
as well as finding and building a home
for themselves.
Foregoing the bustle of townships and
suburbia, they decided on a piece of land
within the 246-acre Planters’ Haven, an
exclusive Sime Darby development of
sprawling greenery in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
What was left was the design of the house
itself, which they entrusted to established
practice MJKanny Architect to deliver.
In the true spirit of genius loci, the
architect looked to the site for inspiration,
and was duly rewarded.
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FUNNEL VISION
Melvyn Kanny shares his insight on
the choice of location. / BELOW
“They (the couple) were looking With its generous
around, they shortlisted a few places. driveway and
position stepped back
Planters’ Haven was the one they liked. from the main street,
All the plots are an acre in size, so there the house’s assumes
a nondescript repose.
was a lot of space which suited them as
they have two big dogs,” he says.
In considering the young husband-
and-wife duo (both engineers with
European exposure), Kanny opted for an
unconventional approach.
“The site appears small at first, but
as you walk in, it gradually opens up to
the horizon, much like a funnel. So why
not explore the idea of something that
unveils itself?”
 1
That conceptual underpinning informs the
/1
single-storey 710m2 domicile’s initial outlook:
A latticed canopy from the main avenue the building appears
structure is lightly unassuming against the forested backdrop,
poised within the
off-form concrete a projection of low massing consisting of a
entrance shell. cloistered entrance in off-form concrete, and
a connecting brickwork garage.
Once past the entrance threshold, the
architecture adopts an experiential stance
– both view and procession controlled by a
narrowing concrete tunnel – that culminates
in an explosion of scenery courtesy of
a wide semi-octagonal living and dining
space and its full-height glass doors.
“To create this opening-up of space,
as one exits the tunnel, I used the idea of
a nautilus spiral. There’s no symmetry in
the plan,” Kanny elaborates, on the half-
radial layout.
Bedrooms, kitchen and entertainment
space radiate in generous trapezoidal
segments around the communal heart of
the dwelling.
While the master bedroom, pool and
pool deck visibly truncate the house’s /2
northern end, it is in fact a deft gesture in Stepping in, doorway
framing an unrestricted vista that can only fins and light slots
bring a daylit
be described as majestic. ambience to the
tunnel.
TROPICAL LIVEABILITY
Despite its modern aesthetic, the house
remains one in the tropics, and adopts time-
tested techniques to enhance its liveability.
The central space, for a start, features
a raised roof with operable clerestory
windows that harvest not only daylight but
also encourages cross-ventilation
Another feature, more common to
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SECTION

FLOOR PLANS

ROOF GROUND FLOOR

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 traditional Malay kampung houses, is
elevation: the entire house was constructed
almost a metre above grade.
“There’s space under the building,
and we use that for air circulation,” Kanny
remarks. “In a kampung house you have
wooden floorboards, and in between the
gaps, air filters through.
“What we did here was replicate that
effect through customised slots in various
Melvyn Kanny, spaces, so that cool air from below can
Principal of be drawn into the house. Even if the
MJKanny Architect
owners are away, the house will always be
naturally ventilated.”
Local materials of concrete and brick
respectively form the tunnel shell and
cavity walls that insulate the interior
against heat – that, combined with the
numerous glazed apertures, creates the
abode’s signature look. / ABOVE
And there are timbers, too: pine, balau and A raised, pine-
Burmese ironwood form the house’s ceilings, stripped ceiling,
clerestory windows,
pergolas and decking, their appearance brick walls and
and robustness that while machined, still cement flooring
delineate the
lends a natural texture and touch that volumetric sphere of
resonate with the surrounding greenery. the central living and
dining space.
THE CHALLENGES OF PRECISION
A non-symmetrical layout, particularly
one inspired by a logarithmic spiral, invites
its share of technical challenges more so
during construction. And while the finished
house appears immaculate, achieving that
precision required demonstrable effort
from those involved.
Relates Kanny, “Getting the geometry
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/3
Natural timber pergolas and
floor decking extend the
interior space to the pool and
greenery outdoors.
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/4
Via windows and skylight, the
master bathroom becomes a
connection to the outdoors with
its brightness and materiality.
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PLANTERS’ HAVEN BUNGALOW

LOCATION NEGERI SEMBILAN, MALAYSIA
COMPLETION 2018
SITE AREA 4,843M2
BUILDING AREA 709.79M2
GROSS FLOOR AREA 724.74M2
ARCHITECT MJKANNY ARCHITECT
LEAD DESIGNER MELVYN KANNY
CONTRACTOR ZHEN YE PROJECTS
C&S CONSULTANT KH PERUNDING
M&E CONSULTANT DURIANÉ CONSULT SERVICES
QUANTITY SURVEYOR CKQS KONSULT
LANDSCAPE MJKANNY ARCHITECT

right was a struggle, because you
don’t have direct gridlines with a radial
layout. There were instances where
the alignment was off, such as the steel
columns not lining up with the floor, and
this was after the floor had been cast.
Only after a corrective survey had been
undertaken could the necessary remedial
works proceed.”
Even at a finishing level, precision
was a concern, as was the case with
the off-form concrete tunnel where the
clients insisted on the smoothest surface
possible; the grinding down of uneven
formwork joints ultimately became the
building contractor’s priority.
Tempering the clients’ desire for
perfection against a house steeped in
naked materiality and a backdrop of
builders’ proficiencies poses a challenge
to any architect.
What was needed here was
perseverance, and a belief in the
ultimate vision, such that even the
most dogmatic homeowner can find
beauty in an unvarnished aesthetic,
and a splendoured horizon that only a
considered architecture can capture.

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