Top 5 Malaysian Home Tours of 2025

Crowned by a timber-clad pitched ceiling and strategically placed skylight, a three-storey void anchors the light-filled living areas. 

On the open-plan ground floor, the sunken living area extends onto the front, rear, and side decks. Here, the infinity pool sits flush with the deck surface, while a covered lounge pavilion faces the landscaped garden, creating intermediate spaces that reference traditional Japanese architecture while responding to tropical living conditions.

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On the first floor, a timber-lined corridor loops around the central void, connecting the master and children’s bedrooms via large sliding doors. 

The staircase follows the angular boundary wall before turning perpendicular toward the second floor, allowing daylight to filter into the stairwell voids. 

At rooftop level, a private entertainment room leads to a concealed space at the apex of the roof pitch, offering an elevated vantage point over the surrounding views.

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Conceived by Choo Gim Wah Architect for a creative artist couple, the Rainforest Residence frames the surrounding rainforest like a living painting while maintaining a simplicity that allows both art and environment to take centre stage.

Evolving through successive layers of refinement until only the essential spatial gestures remained, a long, rectilinear concrete shell marks the entry. Its monolithic geometry and minimal openings project a deliberate severity before the interior unfolds into a playful, surprising spatial sequence.

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Terraces, walkways, and balconies are favoured over traditional corridors, transforming circulation into semi-outdoor journeys that immerse occupants in the rainforest. Paired with natural timber, brick, glass, and steel, the restrained material palette directs attention to the landscape rather than the architecture.

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Meanwhile, the rugged texture and muted tones of the off-form concrete walls provide surfaces for the homeowners’ eclectic art collection; while globally sourced furniture and decorative objects–range from Hans Wegner chairs to Moroccan rugs–further reinforcing the home’s balance between art, craft, and nature.

Additionally, the residence also supports passive cooling: the roof layering insulation between concrete slabs reduces air-conditioning reliance; and the oculus above the main staircase turns the gaze skyward.

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Located in Section 12, Petaling Jaya, MJ Kanny Architect has reinterpreted traditional Malay design through a lens of contemporary sustainability in a family home for three. 

What appeared to be a rectangular plot revealed itself as a trapezium on paper–a minor administrative quirk that inspired the staggered plan and distinctive stepped silhouette of the residence.

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Three extruded gable roof forms articulate the roofline, while a modern interpretation of the Tebar Layar–ventilated timber louvre screens crafted from Chengal strips with punched holes–wraps the structure, balancing sun protection with privacy from neighbouring homes.

External plastered walls are accented by brickwork, while the standing-seam metal roof creates clean, A-shaped forms visible both inside and out, juxtaposing contemporary geometry with traditional Malay motifs.

See also: Home tour: A tropical courtyard bungalow designed to be a family oasis in Malaysia

Through its high gable ceiling, a bespoke double-volume bar–requested by the client as a social space–folds open to the garden and water feature, reinforcing the connection between interior and exterior.

Also connected to the garden, the double-height living room features a 98-inch swivelling television that pivots between the living and dining areas as a subtle divider. Whereas, private spaces are accessed via a lift or a floating staircase set against an off-form concrete wall and finished in Spanish tile.   

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Located in Ampang Hilir, a cramped 40-year-old terrace house belonging to an expatriate couple and their young son has undergone a defining transformation by NDC Design.

While the ground and first floors remain typical of terrace living, with both the front and rear of the property extended, the 3,500-sq-ft residence now enjoys cross-ventilation, natural light, and panoramic city views–a combination that supports both family life and frequent entertaining.

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On the first floor, the removal of a portion of the slab above a former toilet created a double-height living space. This enabled a glass-encased bathtub area on the upper floor that faces the hall below, referencing Neri & Hu’s “nomadic voyeurism” concept.

The interiors are eclectic, featuring objects collected during the couple’s travels, including a solid-wood World War II fighter jet propeller discovered at a Vietnamese flea market.

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Finally, the concrete water tank on the third floor was converted into a mezzanine retreat that doubles as a home office by day and, by night, a space for drinking wine and watching the city lights stretch to the horizon.

Due to the site’s soft soil would have required costly foundations for a conventional concrete extension, NDC Design instead anchored a steel platform to the existing slab, creating additional floor space while minimising structural loads.

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See also: Home tour: a pavilion designed for entertainment, organised around a 30-metre lap pool in Malaysia

Nicknamed the Borderless House, this residence in Selangor draws inspiration from one of the most striking works of Modernism: Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. 

Designed by Formzero, in collaboration with MOA Architects and Caleb Ong Design, the project explores elegant geometric clarity while re-examining how domestic space can be segmented, perceived, and experienced.

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Rather than reading as a fixed envelope, the Borderless House unfolds dynamically. Walls slip beyond sightlines, boundaries dissolve, and a meandering layout reveals spaces gradually–interconnected yet open. 

Meanwhile, the home’s defining feature–its planar geometry composed of 60 fragmented barefaced cast-in-situ concrete walls–is configured around the garden to create an abstract composition of broad, intersecting planes, allowing landscape and interior to flow into one another and encouraging effortless movement and connection.

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Shaped for Malaysia’s tropical climate, the house mitigates harsh glare through carefully positioned concrete planes, promotes cross-ventilation via double-height spaces, and introduces deep overhangs that provide shade while extending the sense of continuity with the outdoors.

Slim rectangular forms and smooth surfaces are unified by concrete cast in three tones, complemented by timber flooring and contrasting textures such as leather and chrome furnishings.

Nature remains ever-present: gardens and the pool are directly accessible or visible through glass partitions, lush landscaping with feature trees animates the exterior, and offset planters along the perimeter serve as green buffers for passersby.

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