In the wide scope of recent changes, we are all probably most familiar with the adjustments needed in our own homes – and there have been some significant changes in our typical requirements of a comfortable home.
For starters: more air, light, and green – the basic stuff. Photo by Angelique EMONET on Unsplash.
Owners looking to fortify the future value of the home and developers aiming to retrofit value-adding improvements into unsold properties stand to benefit from knowing something about how those requirements have changed. Given the climate of the property market, everything else we’ve had to endure this year, and the volume of suggestions coming from our readers, we decided to revisit the most common design for landed homes in Malaysia – the terrace house.
And in the process, we discovered a few masterpieces – such as the “Trow House” by Delution. Image source.
To aggregate recent discoveries about the designs of our homes, we will now look at the most wanted terrace home renovations that have arisen as a direct result of our continuing efforts to stay indoors.
Front Yard
It’s not just for parking cars anymore. Instead of a boring hardscape, try “green” (permeable) pavers to let some grass grow.
Everyone’s either taken up gardening or lounging in the driveway this year. Our time in lockdown has reinforced the benefits of having greenery in the home, but the majority of terrace homes sacrifice space for a garden in front to accommodate up to two personal vehicles – since consumer research has shown that the average household owns two cars.
Fabian Tan’s “Ittka House” retains enough driveway space for two personal vehicles and elevates the garden to the cantilevered slab above. Image source.
This provision of parking space within properties typically measuring between 6.0m to 6.7m wide often precludes the possibility of a sizable garden. The majority of property owners also seem to prefer hardscapes to maximise the built-up area – if not to remove any obligation to do some gardening.
As the typical terrace home cannot be feasibly enlarged without turning industrialised housing on its head and rewriting the entire zoning playbook, most multi-generational households forgo garden space to comfortably fit a minimum of two cars – or sacrifice a bit of personal security by relying on street-side parking.
Working with just enough width for one car, Q.concépt. redistributes the garden on the upper levels of the “Q House” in Da Nang, Vietnam. Image source.
Striking a balance between functional hardscape and natural cover, with permeable pavers to let the grass grow, enables a possible compromise between security concerns, industrial norms, household needs, and our new-found biophilia.
The “Planter Box House” by Formzero doesn’t need any more green, but permeable pavers are still used to let the grass grow while supporting the weight of a car. Image source.
Back Yard
If the front yard lacks space for plants, combine the wet kitchen with a garden at the rear of the home instead.
We do love large kitchens, but we’ve also grown to appreciate gardens a little more lately. While an expanded kitchen might be a useful addition to the total built-up area, the utility and intangible qualities of a garden cannot be easily replaced with a hardscape. However, many homeowners seem to prefer sacrificing outdoor garden space in favour of extending the kitchen to the edge of the property line.
Which would mean losing out on a lush backyard such as this one at the “T House” by Fabian Tan. Image source.
A functional extension at the back yard is not completely out of the question in our reimagining of the average terrace home. A balance between function and aesthetics exists, and it can be reached with concrete countertops for outdoor food preparation, and a cantilevered slab overhead to shield the outdoor kitchen from the elements – and to provide more usable floor space for a balcony or a larger room above.
Or even a patch of grass in the sky, as demonstrated with the “Le Mon” terrace home designed by Fabian Tan. Image source.
Exterior Walls
If you have to wall yourself in, go with ornamental wall top railings to let air and light through.
Shared walls at the front and rear of the home are generally built to just below eye-level to enable neighbours to look out for or interact with each other, and to allow sunlight to travel farther into the home at dawn or dusk – but some property owners opt to raise shared exterior walls higher than the average human can climb in the name of privacy and security.
The “Othello Board House” by Yong Studio has an exterior wall built to full-height, but from open-cell concrete blocks to allow air movement. Image source.
When raising the height of a shared wall, there are numerous downsides to examine. There are neighbours to think about, engineering concerns that grow more complex with the increasing weight of a wall, and you could lose out on air movement and light penetration into your property.
The front of Fabian Tan’s “T House” utilises mesh in place of walls to let greenery burst through. Image source.
To reach a balance between privacy, security, and environmental permeability, consider extending exterior walls only where needed for the sake of privacy and using friendlier ornamental railings on the tops of walls instead of metal spikes, glass shards, or barbed wire.
It’s hard to be neighbourly with this in your face. Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash.
While there is a negligible reduction in security when you give up the concertina wire, we’d all be happier without the penitentiary vibe. Besides, you’re better off focusing your efforts on securing entry points instead of spreading limited resources too thinly along the entire perimeter.
Fabian Tan’s “Jose House” is built right up to the edge of the property line, but with parts of the perimeter turned into enclosed garden spaces. Image source.
Foyer
If you’ve been stuck at home for a while, you’ve probably realised a need for a wall at the entrance.
As seen at the “Vent House” by Yong Studio. Image source.
Among the many lessons learned during the viral pandemic, we’ve become familiar with the benefits of access control and privacy in buildings. Limiting movement at the entryway makes for more efficient sanitisation, and from a security perspective, a wall at the entrance provides privacy by confounding uninvited gazes into your interior.
Fabian Tan’s “Jose House” shifts the foyer out of alignment with the front gate to break lines of sight from the street. Image source.
If the dimensions of your entryway do not permit for a completely solid and full-height wall to partition the foyer, a shorter wall with cut-out sections, a louvred panel, or a sliding glass door, would serve to restrict the spread of airborne pathogens – with significantly less mass taking up valuable floor space.
The front of Fabian Tan’s “Jose House” extends farther out into the driveway to make space for an enclosed entryway. Image source.
Interior Walls
If you’ve ever lived with thin walls, you’ve probably thought about acoustics and wall thickness.
We are fortunate that the industrial norm in Malaysia has almost always entailed relatively thick shared walls between terrace homes. Even at the lower end of the price scale, our walls tend to be built up in something solid such as concrete or brick – but if noise is an issue, consider building up a façade.
While more labour intensive to construct than concrete walls, in terms of aesthetics and value as an acoustic barrier, brick walls are the preferred choice for discerning homeowners. Photo by Justin Schüler on Unsplash.
If a thin wall of concrete seems inadequate to keep noise out, consider sacrificing a perimeter measuring 10cm wide on the interior for a brick façade. The interior wall can be finished with plaster, textured, and coloured to your liking – and prospective buyers or tenants will certainly be impressed with the results. Besides, the peace you’ll get would be worth the expenditure.
Bare and distressed brick walls impart a unique charm at Formzero’s “Halaman” boutique guesthouse. Image source.
Stairs
Prefab is cheap and easy, but if you want airy and spacious, go for a staircase with open risers.
As demonstrated in this terrace home designed by Dr Tan Loke Mun. Image source.
Prefabricated staircases are preferred by constructors for their structural strength, reproducibility, and lower cost per unit. Some homeowners love them for the handy storage space underneath – but the presence of a concrete hulk in the interior of a home greatly reduces light penetration and takes up floor space.
Formzero renders the entire stairwell open to illuminate the “Planter Box House”. Image source.
If you’re looking to renovate a terrace home to make it more liveable or sellable, consider swapping out the prefabricated staircase for steel or concrete beams and making the steps float along a length of wall to let light deeper into the interior.
Skylights
If there’s space on the upper levels to spare, you can’t go wrong with a light well to illuminate the interior.
A widened stairwell is an opportunity to incorporate a light shaft and minimise the amount of space you give up for light, as seen in Fabian Tan’s “Jose House”. Image source.
Make the skylight permeable to air with louvred panels and you’ve got a ventilation shaft to let warm air out and reduce the costs of mechanical cooling. Go a step further with gutters to divert rainwater into the shaft and you’ve got the ingredients for a self-sustaining indoor garden.
Even a lone tree can be a dramatic centrepiece, as demonstrated on the ground floor of Fabian Tan’s “Jose House”. Image source.
In our reimagining of the terrace home, we would widen the stairwell and give up more floor space than necessary in the name of light penetration and air movement. To protect the interior from rain, we would wrap the indoor garden in glass curtain walls.
As in the ”J-House” by Design Collective Architects. Image source.
We would also reclaim some of the upper floors for walking on by replacing parts of the concrete slab with diamond mesh frames, grids, or perforated panels in concrete or steel for that industrial vibe.
Combine these renovation ideas with exposed trusses supporting a vented roof – as with Design Atelier’s “Courtyard House” in Sungai Buloh – you’ll get a home that costs less to cool and you’ll never want to leave. Image source.
(Written by Kevin Eichenberger, 11th August 2020)
