Archisteem 10: Friendly Architecture Curation - Factory in The Earth

Today's curated project: Factory in The Earth

Again, today let me curate something that is based in Malaysia but foreign designed.

This project is led by Ryuichi Ashizawa Architect & Associates which took place in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The project covered an approximate 25,141m² and was completed around 2013. The project is the management office for JST Connectors Malaysia, a manufacturer and distributor for interconnection devices and components.

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I came to know about this building when I was studying in UTM, Johor Bahru whereby I saw my juniors went to the building for a case study. At first, I thought where was this place which did not seem like a typical office building that I can find in Malaysia. After that, I found out that this was actually built in Malaysia and used by a Malaysian company! The architect in charge of the design was from Japan and I can see some poetic elements with the spaces designed, which is the strength of Japanese architects.

Rather than having a typical office block, the client chose to reside with such tropical approach, which is to me, bold and innovative. The project is an extension of its existing factory. From the statement by the client, the reason for choosing such approach is to make the workers proud of working in such environment.

The office optimized the natural resources like rainwater, sunlight, wind, geothermal heat and vegetation to its full potential. This is a way to make the office building much sustainable and produce less harmful carbon and other potent gas out to the atmosphere.

Star shaped drop panel of the column.

Star shaped light reflector to reflect the direct sunlight onto the ceiling to allow much gentle daylight to light up the space.

Prayer room for the Islam workers, simple and yet stately designed.

Here, we can see the use of large green rooftop like the previous building that I posted. Such roof provides good insulation for the interior space. The spaces below are supported by a forest of hexagonally shaped pillars with a star-shaped top which represents the element of Islamic culture. This is a functional art that I appreciate and it shows how the company appreciates the workers’ religion. Just for an additional info, in Johor Bahru, the Malay consists of around 50% of the population and it is normal to have factories hosting a majority of Islam workers.

They have rainbow in their office!

View into the sky, a courtyard within the building.

Some science behind how the rainbow is formed.

Some science behind how the Stack Effect occured with the cleverly planned spaces.

One great innovation by the architect is that the collection of rainwater and re-irrigation of it is done in a poetic way. The rainwater will be collected by the rooftop and then directed into the underground storage tank through the hidden pipes in the pillars. While the water flows into the pond with the wind blowing, the vapory breeze will help to cool down the transitional spaces between the exterior and interior under the roof. Plus, to further cool down the building, it also designed to reflect sunlight (the heat) while keeping some daylight penetrating the interior. Such attempt can only be done with the help of different tryouts in computer simulations, which is part of how a design should be done in this modern era. Architects can experiment with the form and performance prior to finalizing the building and getting it built. This could largely reduce the cost and risk by the client.

The jogging track around the tower.

Looking out from the inside of the tower.

Of course, well-shaded path to connect space to space is integrated into the building. The slab along the perimeter of the building forms a continuous slope from the ground to the top. This is like a continuous jogging track that encourages the workers to exercise! This is a wonderful attempt. Then, the façade is decorated with a system of wired mesh crawling with vines. While shielding the workers from sunlight, it also provides greenery from the inside. The building is said to be energy efficient as it can also function with natural ventilation as the building is designed to create stacking effect, forming a continuous flow of air from the ground level to the top.

Again, I would like to compliment such design attempt in Malaysia and it is another eye opener for us to see that factory and office can be something else, rather than a glass block. Hope to see more of such innovation coming up!

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Source of images used and reference article. Click here

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Hope you enjoy the curation. If you have any projects that you wished to be curated, do drop a comment to me. Any critics and suggestions about my curation are welcome!

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This is an #archisteem post.

A new tag that is to curate our existing built environment and also future built environment development. Want to know more? Read here.

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Find me at @kimzwarch