Cover The living room, viewed from the dining wing, shows the granite television wall and a pair of lounge chairs positioned at the mezzanine overlook, with views of the surrounding greenery in this Muar home
The living room, viewed from the dining wing, shows the granite television wall and a pair of lounge chairs positioned at the mezzanine overlook, with views of the surrounding greenery in this Muar home
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Bizcus Design has created a contemporary home in Muar, Johor, for three that draws on the logic of the traditional Malay stilt house rather than the language of the modern Malaysian suburb
The commission began, as many good ones do, with a friendship. The client had known Max Aw, founder of Johor-based Bizcus Design, for years before deciding to demolish the modest wooden house on his Muar property and start over. What he wanted was not simply a larger or more modern structure. He wanted to change how his family lived.
Muar is not a city that rewards urgency. Situated along the Muar River in Johor, it moves at a pace largely unchanged by the development pressures reshaping much of peninsular Malaysia, which, in Aw’s view, made it exactly the right place to build a house oriented around stillness.
The residence sits within Muar's established riverside neighbourhood, visible here at dusk with the Muar River and Strait of Malacca beyond
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The full street frontage at dawn, showing the main residence at right with its stacked white volumes, stone column, and louvred screens, alongside the guardhouse and perimeter gate at left
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The site offered an early opportunity. The land sits nearly five feet above street level, and rather than level it, Aw used the grade change to create a 77-foot approach he calls a runway, leading from the entrance gate toward the front door. A koi pond with a central fountain occupies the midpoint of this path. The sound of the water does practical work: by the time a visitor reaches the threshold, the street and its noise feel considerably further away than they are.
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Above The front entry koi pond and water curtain fountain beneath the main residence's timber-slatted porte-cochère, framed by the rough-cut stone wall
Above The ground-floor living room of the rear villa, set against a full-height Olive Wave Granite slab at the rear, flanked by the koi pond to the right
The front entry koi pond and water curtain fountain beneath the main residence's timber-slatted porte-cochère, framed by the rough-cut stone wall
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The elevation of the main living volumes above the pond level references the traditional Malay stilt house, a building type whose raised floor plan was originally designed for ventilation and protection against flooding. The connection is not purely symbolic. Lifting the structure off the ground allows air to circulate beneath and around it, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling that would otherwise be unavoidable in this climate. The living hall sits directly adjacent to the water’s edge, with the pond visually continuous with the interior floor. The house appears to float, and in the afternoon heat, the interior remains noticeably cooler than the surrounding landscape.
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The main living room in full, showing the rough-split granite wall on the left, Titanium Antique marble flooring, and the internal courtyard visible through full-height glazing to the right
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“Most of us who grew up in the ’80s spent our childhoods under the shade of large trees, by the banks of small streams,” says Aw. “We listened to the flow of water, felt the natural breeze, and let the sun warm our faces. This project was about reclaiming that feeling.”
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The family room on the upper floor, open to the Muar skyline through full-height glazing on three sides, with the Ori Grey and Argos Black kitchen island at rear
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Above The kitchen island, clad in Ori Grey and Argos Black stone with softened curved edges, beneath a pair of copper-disc pendants. Timber cabinetry
Above Morning light enters the dining area through floor-to-ceiling black-framed windows overlooking the neighbourhood
The kitchen island, clad in Ori Grey and Argos Black stone with softened curved edges, beneath a pair of copper-disc pendants. Timber cabinetry
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For a residence of this scale and specification, where the instinct is often to demonstrate what money can do rather than what it can undo, Aw pushed in the other direction. Rather than sealing the home off from Muar’s climate, he introduced large wind-induction channels and positioned the water features to draw airflow through the structure. In this part of Malaysia, working with the climate rather than overpowering it is considered a technical decision, not a default.
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The villa kitchen and dining room in full, with the dark stone dining table and island at centre, timber cabinetry with open stone-clad shelving behind, and the koi pond and garden terrace visible through the open bifold wall to the right
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Above The koi pond at the threshold between the main house and the rear villa, viewed with the folding glass doors open
Above The rear villa terrace, with two red woven chairs positioned at the pond edge beside the frangipani tree
The koi pond at the threshold between the main house and the rear villa, viewed with the folding glass doors open
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The material palette follows similar thinking. The client specifically asked for surfaces that would not require constant upkeep, so the high-gloss finishes common in Malaysian residential interiors at a certain price point were set aside in favour of matte and textured stone. A 50mm Olive Wave Granite wall in a natural split finish anchors the living room, its surface geological in character, rough enough to absorb light rather than reflect it. Underfoot, Titanium Antique flooring provides a grounded, matte foundation.
The main staircase is clad in Fusion Gold Leather stone, giving the transition between levels a tactile weight. At the altar, RIVALE Azul Polished marble and Silver Travertine create a focal point with appropriate gravity. The kitchen island is composed of Ori Grey and Argos Black, a pairing that suggests permanence over novelty. The materials throughout were sourced through Stone De Art and Levo Art Stone.
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The rear garden and villa from the side, showing the timber-decked terrace to the left, the still-water pond and fountain, stepping stone path across the lawn, and the villa’s open living space beyond
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The home spans three levels. The ground floor houses the primary social spaces, along with a maid’s room. The first floor contains the family’s bedroom suites and a study. The third floor opens onto a sky garden and a gym with views across the Muar skyline.
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The villa’s living room viewed from the pond terrace with the bifold wall fully open, showing the dark grey television wall with textured panel inserts, open timber shelving, and a kitchen counter to the right
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At the rear of the property, a separate villa houses the entertainment suite, a karaoke room, and a sauna, which together form a space with a distinctly different register from the main residence. The two structures are connected by a second still-water pond crossed by stepping stones. The physical distance between the family’s private quarters and the gathering space is modest; the separation is more about atmosphere than metres. Guests arriving at the villa cross the water and leave the domestic life of the house behind.
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The same bedroom suite viewed from the opposite end, with a study nook behind a sliding panel of dark marble, open timber shelving and copper pendant lights to the right
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The automation runs on a Loxone system, installed in partnership with Madoc Integration Solution, that manages lighting, climate control and security from a single local platform. Unlike standard consumer smart-home products, it processes data on-site rather than routing it through external servers, addressing privacy concerns that often go unasked in residential technology projects. “The beauty of the system is its invisibility,” Aw says. “It subtly adjusts the ambience as the sun moves across the Muar skyline, ensuring the house is always in its best light.” The residents are rarely required to manage their environment. The house does it.
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The rear villa’s garden elevation at night, with the koi pond fountain jets lit from below, the frangipani tree spot-lit against the white perimeter wall, and the living room warm behind the glass sliding doors
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A rainwater harvesting system maintains the landscaping, which is dense enough throughout the property to suggest that nature has been invited in and given some latitude, not simply contained. Sanitary fittings are by Toto and Grohe. Personal parking is concealed from the main circulation areas.
Aw is candid about the central challenge of designing a large house for a small household. At 19,000 square feet shared by three people, a family can get lost in their own home, and expensive fittings do nothing to fix that. His solution was to break the program across distinct structures and scales, a main residence and a detached villa, so that the property can contract and expand according to who is present and what the day requires.
“The client wanted a home that was easy to manage,” Aw says. “What we delivered was a home that breathes.”
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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.
