The Presenter
Mr. James Lim Chin Wai is a lecturer in UCSI university, and also our studio master for Design Studio 4 this semester. He work in ZLG Architect a local firm and used to work in RSP Architect for 3 years in Singapore. He have a degree (BArch, Curtin University of Technology) from UK.He was invited to gave a talk during Tuesday afternoon 29 of Aug 2017. This talk is about him sharing his own working experiences during his industrial life such as the projects, the philosophy during work, and so on.
Projects:
Point 92, Malaysia
Point 92 is design by ZLG and was completed in late 2012, the building simply named after the size of the site itself, it sits on a small site of 0.92 acres and consists of a single 19-storey tower with 200,000 sq feet of office space.
Point 92 is situated on a sloped site, overlooking Damansara Perdana and its ribbons of roads. The play of ambiance through the incorporation of day lighting with façade treatment is a tried and true timeless aesthetic, as are the impeccable play of materials the architects are known for.
This building was elevated from the car park basement below which is surrounded by greenery to create the feeling of floating on a green surrounding.
The main facade of the building are made out of white cement concrete, the structure was lifted and separated from the main structure.
The main lobby used the special with raw material. It uses the polish floor and marine plywood for the ceiling. The exterior of the lobby is with a lot of trees and the lighting from the highway as well as give the relaxing mode for the main lobby.
There's L shaped deck that excavated as a lookout area of this office building, This area allows visitors to take in the view by providing randomly placed precast concrete benches that encourages respite while wooden lanterns with marine plywood ceilings buttoned tightly against a raw concrete under croft create a soothing canopy.
Natura Gurney, Malaysia
This project is a competition for an apartment design in Jalan Gurney. The idea of this competition are almost the same as the Point 92, to make the building float and cantilever off the basement. Its also giving out the same idea of which are relaxing environment to the occupants.
Onyx
This project is a tower with black tinted glass, located at Jalan Sultan Ismail. The idea of the structure came from a black stone called Onyx. The design of the facade comes from the Onyx stone, which is black and classy.
Q&A Session By Students
Question asked by Novi
Novi : From all of the design, is therr any issue with the end user feedback?
James : There are feedback received like its too iconic even thou its not in a big scale, but mostly, the main point of the feedback from the end user is that they liked it and enjoy using the space.
Question asked by Pang Shi han
P.Shi Han : Comparing Malaysia and Singapore, do you think Singapore is a better platform for architects to explore and be given more opportunities in terms of exposure and experiences?
James : yes, as Singapore is a small country, it becomes a design hub where architects from Singapore will receive various projects from other countries around south east Asia. – architect will be given more exposure toward international projects and be able to work with people from all around the world.
Question asked by Yap Yen Ling
Y.Yen Ling : In your opinion, do you think the architect still following the theories of architecture in terms of designing rather then just follow the clients’ needs?
James : Of course we still follow those theories somehow but when architects design also need to refer back to the clients requirement and as I mentioned just now the project Point 92, we do persuit and try to educate them with our typology and design sense. If you talk about theories in term of philosophy kind I think this seldom happen in Malaysia and it is too individualism to practice in Malaysia too.
Question asked by Logeish
Logeish : Your (Mr. James) designs speaks a lot about random openings and allow natural phenomenon penetrate thru building. What if the client likes the idea, but with neat and less opening on the facade?
James: Convincing the client is hard but work smart with what you can substitute with clients needs with a proposed cost.
Conclusion
In my own opinion, there is countless of knowledge and experience can be found in this world. Every designer not only architect have their own personal opinion, idea, and point of view. It might be challenging and difficulty, but i helps us grow and teach us how to overcome problems in life. I am glad to able to be listen to Mr. James talk and listen to his experience, it feel like a bonding time between us and lecturer and really looking forward to understand each other not as a lecturer and student but as a friend.