Archisteem 19: Friendly Architecture Curation - 38 Mews - House for Humans & Cats

Today's curated project: 38 Mews – My Mentor’s House

As mentioned in my previous post, this week I will be looking into smaller projects (personal homes) around the tropical region. It is always interesting to study this kind of projects as I could pick up more details than ever and get involved fully without overburden myself with too much of details. Even now, I am facing some learning curve which I need to pick up a lot of knowledge and skill to handle a single bungalow project. However, I believe I will be steadier and more decisive after achieving this milestone. In the meantime, learning from others project is a way to sharpen my creativity and maturity in design. So here we go.

This project is led by Ar. Chan Mun Inn from Design Collective Architects which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The project covered an approximate 300 m² with a 3 stories bungalow unit for the architect himself and his partner. A cozy and modern home for the young couple.

---

Row behind, the fourth from the left is me and third from the right is Ar. Chan.

I get to know the architect, Ar. Chan Mun Inn during the Masterclass session at Taylor’s Lakeside University in 2016. Just so happened that I was distributed to the team under the mentorship of Ar. Chan, and I found out that he was amazing and know things in and out! I supposed that is the level I should be at if I have gained practical experience for more than 10 years. Besides the encounter during the masterclass, I also invited him out for a coffee to understand more about the professional practice and his experience in the profession. Getting some golden advice from mentors is a must.

This is what I get from his profile :P oops

From what I knew about Ar. Chan, he is a man with wild ideas and entrepreneurial as well. He started his own practice with his partners quite early without even getting his final professional license.
After a chit-chat with him, I knew that he has no intention to have any kids and that was also agreed by his partner too. On the other hand, they decided to get themselves a bunch of cats as their partners in the house. In his Facebook, I can see that his cats are free to roam around the big house and he really loves his cats (with a lot of cat pics).

---

Let’s look into his house’s design.

In terms of space arrangement, I can understand his lifestyle. With the office right at the ground floor, he and his staffs can direct access to the office without the need to go through his private spaces on the top floors. In addition, he made a show cabinet as a hall of fame. It is another important reputation builder for the profession.

The boss posing right there.

Going to the upper floors, the first floor is the semi-public area with spacious and almost wall-less living area that connects with dry kitchen, laundry, and a guest room and also open terrace (something like a balcony). The house does have a spacious space for drying the clothes! From here, I could say that the couple does not cook that much as their kitchen is kind of minimal (personal judgment, yet to validate with the owner :P). While on the top floor, is a totally private haven for the couple. The wardrobe is as big as his bedroom and study area which is awesome (I believe this is a dream for all the females too, my girlfriend @enjiliew included).

In overall, the house is very simple and neat in terms of the space configuration. From the ground to the top floor, it is a segregation of work, gather, eat and sleep. Plus, it is easy to maintain as the owner will only need to take care the top floor cleaning while the floors below can be clean by cleaners.
Talking about its special form, the reason behind is that the house is oriented east-west where openings are faced towards the morning sun (the terrace side and all other openings) while the west side is enclosed by the stairs and minimal openings. On the east side, there are deep overhangs that provide shading for the interior spaces, making the spaces not that hot and bright for “outdoor” activities. As for the beauty of spatial quality, volumetric space is always a grand feature that creates a comfortable and relaxing feeling. Personally, I would want a living area with high ceiling and able to see some blue sky.

In a nutshell, the house design reflects how the owner lifestyle is and it gives me a prior understanding of the owner without even asking him in person. That should be reflected other housing projects as well. I always tend to observe around people’s house and imagine the ergonomics behind and how people live in their house. It may sound creepy, but I mean no harm and just out of my own curiosity to understand a person (the house owner) better.

One more thing, his house design is featured in this famous architecture website and it is also my dream to create my own house and live happily with my family :) Something to look up and working towards that! Hoho...

I wonder whether any other of you out there have this kind of habit? Looking around and trying to imagine how’s the owner lifestyle is? Share your experience with me.

---

Source of images used and reference article. Click here

---

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!

---

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.

---

Join us @steemitbloggers
Animation By @zord189

---

Find me at @kimzwarch