Tree House

Inspiration:

Experience with Forest:

1. sense of welcoming revealed by the enclosure of Forest mass

2. overwhelm by the scale and the mass of Forest

3. sense of mystery and adventure

Impression of Forest:

1. tall vertical forest trees i.e Koompassia excesla ( Tualang)

2. multi-storey foliage mass / stratification of horizontal masses

3. blend in, intertwine and interlocking together forming a harmony enclosure

4. enforce a sense of secure and calm

5. most lives exist above forest ground

Site Contexts / Requirement / Site Response / Issues

1. Part of the Protected Forest within Taman Negara, ecologically and environmentally sensitive,

2. The site is situated on the flood plain of Sungai Tabung, subjects to river tide,

highest water level is about 50m above the normal water level,

3. Ground settlement, unstable slope.

Design Solution:

a. minimal disturbance to the existing ground - touch the earth lightly

b. minimal footprint, small build up area, venture upward for vertical spaces

c. economical use of space / allow for multiple uses / flexible spaces

d. structure and construction to enhance slope stability

e. preferably light and dry construction (subject to budget)

"The program (problem to be solved) is what makes a project unique, and the seed of a solution is found within the problem itself. An opportunity exists within every design to develop a unique solution. The environment is the source of a projects poetic sense. Every site has its own character; the challenge to the architect is to capture that character and translate its spirit into architectural poetry." Robert Harvey Oshatz

Creature Scanning: Bamboo (Gigantochloa levis)

Culms 8–15 m, 9–13 cm in diam.; apically drooping; internodes 30–45 cm, initially with brown to white hairs; wall ca. 2.5 mm thick. Culm sheaths deciduous, broadly flabellate, thickly leathery, apex narrow, brown setose; auricles conspicuous, undulate; oral setae 5–7 mm; ligule 6–15 mm, serrulate; blade usually reflexed, ovate-triangular, 9–13 cm, basally with brown setae on both sides. Ultimate branches with 6–10 leaves. Leaf sheath gray setose; ligule ca. 1 mm; blade 15–25 × 1.8–3 cm, abaxially glabrous, adaxially white hairy. Inflorescence unknown.

Riversides, valleys; 500–1000 m. S Yunnan; cultivated in Taiwan [Malaysia, Philippines].

1. very unique plants, belongs to the family of grass,

2. appear "light" yet they are strong, due to both the root and shaft structure

3. root rhizome structure and shafts' internodes

4. flexible form, flexible spaces within - vertical (above ground level) and horizontal (below ground level)

Site Selection Consideration:

Avoid building in environmentally sensitive areas (heavily vegetated natural forest). The selected site is a barren plot cleared earlier. Thus building on this site would avoid further jeopardizing natural vegetated forest, at the same time help in rehabilitating the vacant site.

Design Concept:

"poetic spaces floating amidst the forest"

Floating Space...creating poetic floating spaces that is aligned with the surrounding.

design mimicking the structural character of forest: depicting hierarchy of forest mass, verticality, intertwining structural elements, elegant bamboo shafts, interwoven root rhizomes etc

Design Approach:

Acknowledge the beauty of nature by not competing, instead honoring its supremacy, via juxtaposition of contrasting materials and forms. Architectural character tunes in and harmonizes with the language of the surrounding nature.

The building is designed in direct response to its environmental responsibility. The appeal of the design is primarily on its approach towards site design efficiency.

The design also promote flexibility in terms of space, function, movement, circulation flow etc

refer and relate to the nature of bamboo structure and forest communities.

All proposed spaces are elevated, suggesting a sense of levitation, deluding the connection of platforms with the slope.

Other than technically to minimize building footprint, and to address future flooding threat, "the floating space" also illustrates that most of life in the tropical rain forest exists vertically in trees.

Construction System :

In respond to site context: regards site as environmentally sensitive site: Thus applying

IBS and reduce on-site construction. Reduce material wastage and construction wastage. Reduce the polluting effects of construction and from workers during construction.

Material:

NATURE: genuine, honest and true, not pretentious.

Corresponds to the context and setting

responds to the activities it caters

Materials constantly exposed to violence environment, to embrace the etching process and take it as part of the intended design, tells the beauty of time and space.

Physical Characteristic:

Truth to its natural beauty

Third world aesthetic

Rugged and raw