Cover In this Kuala Lumpur home renovation, the transition between the new concrete extension on the left and the original house interior on the right is marked by a structural column rather than a wall
In this Kuala Lumpur home renovation, the transition between the new concrete extension on the left and the original house interior on the right is marked by a structural column rather than a wall
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Core Design Workshop’s Kuala Lumpur home renovation finds its most considered move not in the new concrete extension, but in the 600-millimetre void deliberately left between old and new
Interface House, a renovation of a developer-built zero-lot bungalow completed by Core Design Workshop, is organised around a gap. That gap is exactly 600 millimetres wide, and it is, by the architects’ reckoning, the most important part of the project.
Zero-lot bungalows are ubiquitous across Malaysia’s suburban developments, built to a formula and optimised for efficiency rather than the specific demands of living in a hot, wet climate. They arrive with their programmes largely settled: service functions at the rear, presentation at the front, and little tolerance for deviation. The brief called for a new extension, and the studio responded with a structure that deliberately holds itself apart from the original building.
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Above The new concrete volume reads as a distinct architectural moment set against the uniformly white-rendered forms of the surrounding development
The new concrete volume reads as a distinct architectural moment set against the uniformly white-rendered forms of the surrounding development
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Above The front facade of Interface House has a curved concrete extension that rises behind the original developer bungalow, separated from it by a narrow glazed void
The front facade of Interface House has a curved concrete extension that rises behind the original developer bungalow, separated from it by a narrow glazed void
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Rather than grafting an addition onto the existing house, the studio positioned a new off-form concrete volume alongside it, separated by a narrow, glazed and louvred void through which light, air and movement pass continuously.
“We were interested in the idea that architecture doesn’t always have to resolve itself,” said Chun Hooi Tan, director of architecture and design at Core Design Workshop. “The interface between the old and new — that 600-millimetre gap — isn’t a problem we tried to hide. It became the project.”
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Above The curved concrete roof seen from directly above, flanked by the garden to the rear and the roofscape of the original bungalow below
The curved concrete roof seen from directly above, flanked by the garden to the rear and the roofscape of the original bungalow below
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Above The curved off-form concrete roof of the new extension, seen from above, spans the double-height hall without intermediate support
Above The street entrance of Interface House, with its concrete extension and curved profile and timber louvre screens, sits alongside the original two-storey bungalow
The curved off-form concrete roof of the new extension, seen from above, spans the double-height hall without intermediate support
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At ground level, a cast-in-situ terrazzo floor runs continuously from the original house into the new hall, crossing the divide as an unbroken horizontal plane. Above it, the two structures go their own ways. The new concrete roof curves freely, spanning the double-height hall without intermediate columns and without borrowing structural support from the existing building. The form, which the architects first studied with paper models, derives its strength from bending rather than mass. It is an engineering decision that happens to produce a striking ceiling.
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Above The wet kitchen island occupies the concrete extension on the left; the dry kitchen, with its timber cabinetry and marble island, sits within the original bungalow on the right
The wet kitchen island occupies the concrete extension on the left; the dry kitchen, with its timber cabinetry and marble island, sits within the original bungalow on the right
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Above The dining hall has the glass panels partially open, and trees planted along the garden edge are framed within the black steel mullions
Above The dining chairs and timber table seen from above, with the pivoting glass panels and garden floor beyond
The dining hall has the glass panels partially open, and trees planted along the garden edge are framed within the black steel mullions
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The hall accommodates dining and a wet kitchen, functions that, in the conventional layout of Malaysian houses, are typically pushed to the rear of the plan and treated as service rather than social spaces. Here they occupy the largest, most generous room in the house. Twelve full-height pivoting glass panels line the garden edge. Open, the hall extends into the landscape with little perceptible boundary. Closed, the interior remains visually connected to the garden while staying protected from rain. Overlooked from the upper floors of the original bungalow, the space operates in a semi-outdoor register that the tropical climate both demands and complicates.
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Above The original house interior connects to the new hall through an opening at ground level
The original house interior connects to the new hall through an opening at ground level
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The glazed void between old and new does more than mark a conceptual position. The louvres that line it regulate airflow through the house, drawing ventilation between the two structures and reducing dependence on mechanical cooling, which most renovations of this type take as given.
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Above The wet kitchen sink and range hood against the raw off-form concrete wall, with the garden visible through the closed glass panels
Above The wet kitchen counter runs along the glazed garden edge, with the dining hall and curved concrete ceiling beyond
The wet kitchen sink and range hood against the raw off-form concrete wall, with the garden visible through the closed glass panels
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The full length of the wet kitchen and dining hall, with garden trees visible through the closed glass panels
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“Malaysian houses in the suburbs tend to treat the back as a place you service and the front as a place you perform,” Tan said. “We wanted to ask what happens when you take the most climatically generous part of the site seriously as a place to actually inhabit.”
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The interior of the new hall from an elevated position, looking along the length of the glazed garden edge
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In most renovations, the seam between the original and the new is the thing to be disguised — a problem of jointure resolved through matching materials, continuous ceilings, and aligned floors. Interface House does the opposite by leaving the separation visible. The terrazzo floor that crosses it does not pretend that the gap is not there; it simply establishes that the house functions as a whole despite it.
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
