TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITYFOUNDATION IN NATURAL & BUILT ENVIRONMENTS

APRIL 2014

SONIA MANCXIAONG EUXUAN

For this project, we are assigned to initiate a small construction in the compound of Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus. We are required to select a site of not more than 30m x 30 m to construct a construction project.

The construction project should serve one of the following purposes: recreational area, study enhancement area, rest area, food and beverage (dining area), commercial area. We decided to pick a dining area, a café that also works as a library.

This report will include a site analysis, the purpose of building, building concept, plans, elevations and sections, the materials that will be used and some perspective sketches of the construction. We will conduct researches and analysis in order to construct the perfect project.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENTSBUILDING TYPES OF

1. RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Residential developments are structured building development of residential properties. They are often areas of high density, low impact residences of family homes. Housing

may vary significantly between, and through residential areas.

In certain residential areas, large tract of land may have no services, so the need for transport has resulted in land development following existing or planned transport infrastructure such as rail and road.

2. COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS

These commercial developments include office buildings, industrial property, medical centers, malls, retail stores and even warehouses. The basic elements of a commercial building

is one that include the buying and selling of goods on a large scale. These developments undergo the activities embracing all forms of the purchase and sale of goods and services.

3. HOTEL AND ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES

Hotel developments provide lodging paid on a short term basis. They provide facilities that may range from beds and clothing storage, to luxury features like en-suite bathrooms. Larger hotels

DEVELOPMENTS

may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, business centre, childcare, conference facilities and social function services. These accommodation facilities offer hospitality to travellers.

Accommodation facilities range from travellers inns and cheap guesthouse, to luxurious underwater hotels and even rich beach resorts that provide a phenomenal view.

4. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Industrial developments usually include factories, warehouses, utilities, telecommunication and business park developments.

The industrial revolution led to the development of factories for large scale production, with

consequent changes in society. This led to significant increases in efficiency, lowering the cost of end products.

5. PLACE OF WORSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

Place of worship is usually a specially designed structure or consecrated place where individuals come to perform devotion, veneration or conduct religious studies. Religious architecture expresses the religious beliefs, aesthetic choices,

and economic and technological capacity of those who create or adapt it, and thus places of worship show great variety depending on time and place.

AUTHORITIES

There are three levels in the Malaysian Town Planning Service, corresponding to the three levels of government, namely the Federal, State and Local Governments. Even though legally each of the three levels of the planning service are responsible to their respectively levels of government, in practice there is a considerable amount of movement in planning officers between the three levels. In particular, officers from the Federal JPBD are rotated to the various State JPBD Offices on "tour-of-duty".

Occassionally, federal officers are also seconded to the local government town planning departments. Incidentally, town planning departments at the local governments are NOT referred to as JBPD. Since the local government is what is called a "closed service", their planning officers are not rotated out of the local government.

The following is a brief description of the services offered by each of the three levels of the Malaysia Town Planning Service.

Federal level

The Town and Country Planning Department of Peninsular Malaysia (Headquarters) and its Regional Branch Offices undertake corporate planning, spatial planning, preparation of development plans, management services of technical resources, planning and monitoring of public parks, landscaping planning and support services.

State level

The State Town and Country Planning Department is the main advisor to the State Government in all aspects governing town and country planning It is responsible for formulating land use policies and preparation of development plans for various sectors such as housing, industries and tourism. These departments also render advise to the local authority for purposes of development control. This is carried by the preparation of lay out plans to coordinate developments, preparation of town plans, and vetting of development proposals submitted by private developers to the local authorities. The State JPBD is also the Secretariat to the State Planning Committee (SPC) set up under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.

Local level

The planning departments of the major local authorities are independent of the other two levels. Local authorities with well established planning departments handle all matters related to town planning including control, project planning and preparing local lay out plans.

PROJECT ANALYSIS

We have found out that Taylor’s University needs a new attraction. A place where students will hang out after a tiring day or even between classes. Cafes with contemporary theme have become a very successful mainstream business that managed to attract the youngsters. It is the environment that people are looking for. People now are more particular about their surroundings and the feeling they get in cafes. They wouldn’t mind paying slightly more for a more relaxed and comfortable environment.

In addition, people nowadays are so into their electronic devices that slowly forget about books and magazines. So we came up with an idea. Why not, bring a library into a café?

Berlin’s Ocelot and New York’s Housing Works and Café are great examples of bookstores that allows customers/readers to have a cup of coffee while reading. The eccentric bookstores attracted many readers, as tables awaited at the cafe area.

In Malaysia, The Coffee Club in Kinokuniya KLCC allows customers to have a bite of something while they’re there. There are numerous Espressolab franchise located in KL, and some of them are located in bookstores, just like this one in Times, Pavilion KL!

SITE ANALYSIS

Our site is located at Block E Level 2. The project will be initiated on a site of 20m x 13m.

Our site is an open space which has the view of the lake and the sports centre. Our construction will be facing west so there will be enough sunlight at the entrance when the sun sets. From the café, customers will have an incredible view of the lake on the west and a view of the sports centre of the south.

This place will not be as busy as our site is low on circulation on normal days. This is due to the location of the space whereby it is far from other attractions. Even though it is currently quiet but it is a potential site to build a café, as well as a common area where people can meet up and chat over coffee.

Pictures taken from our site.

PURPOSE

The purpose of Cafebrary is to produce more public common area that not only serves delicious food but also accommodate books for customers to read, as well as allow students and even lecturers to interact and communicate in the campus block itself, without having to walk to the commercial block.

The library is a quiet place where food isn’t allowed in, while the people who wants to read in a café can’t seem to pay full concentration when everybody else is just chatting over food. That is why we came up with the idea of bringing the library into a café, which this mixture allows students and lecturers to study, read, bring their own devices and even borrow books all in the café itself, as well as have delicious lunch.

A study area will be provided where students may enjoy the silence while eating, without being bothered or disturbed. Common areas in the dining room gives customers the privacy and chances to discuss about work over food.

Bookshelves are built into the café to accommodate books, and customers are most welcomed to pick up one to read while having lunch, or even borrow from the café itself!

Furthermore, this café will be also located on a place in campus where the circulation runs low. Fear no more, this café will definitely bring a boost to the circulation, and revive the site when students and lecturers pay their visit to the café!

With the minimal contemporary appearance of a food and beverage area, the __ is located at the open space on the second floor of Block E, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus.

CONCEPT

The Cafebrary works as both a library and a café/restaurant. Shelves will be heavily built into the structure to accommodate books that range from fiction story books to reference books and even magazines for students and lecturers to casually browse through. Large amount of tables will be placed at the dining and bar area, allowing customers to read or chat over food.

On the left side of the dining room is the private dining area. Tall bookshelves lined the left wall, and larger tables were placed by the shelves. More tall bookshelves are placed between tables to act as partitions, and may offer more privacy for the customers eating in. Loose tables will also be placed by the middle of the dining room for customers of smaller crowds.

A central bar lined with wooden panels will be located at the centre of the Cafebrary, with bench style seating with bar stools.

A study area is located at the front left of the café. On one of the walls, a long table is placed, and two low and long bookshelves are built on both sides of the long table, lining the walls on both sides, to accommodate books. The study area is surrounded with glass windows, allowing customers to catch a panoramic view of the campus from atop. Students are most welcomed to bring their laptops to do their work or even have group discussions, as well as have lunch in this room. This study area offers enough space for working and relaxation in this inspiring environment.

Walled only on three sides, the courtyard provides a great view from atop, overlooking the campus and commercial area, as well as provide a phenomenal view of the lake. The courtyard is kept very orderly and symmetrical, causing the space to naturally look larger. The heavy plantings surrounding the courtyard helps customers to feel comfortable and cocooned. There are more seatings in the courtyard, allowing customers to eat and admire the beautiful view of the campus at the same time.

Finally, the kitchen will be located at the far end of the building.

DRAWINGS

SKETCHESPERSPECTIVE

FAÇADE

The façade of the café is made out of glass windows. The glass windows allow the customers to look out the building to have a fine overlook of the campus area. These tempered glass can be easily maintained, and easily works as a thermal barrier. The glass frames are made of aluminium, and are stainless steel to prevent it from rusting when in contact with rainwater.

The timber flooring from the inside reach out to the outside, creating a short stairs down to the ground, producing a terrace where people can sit back and relax.

Ceramic roof tiles stretched from the top of the building to produce a shade to shield the inside from the hot sun.

MATERIALS

DINING AREA

The floor of the dining room can be paved with timber flooring. As a natural material, timber can be warm and smooth underfoot. Timber nowadays can be easily applied over a flat substrate or even glued directly to a concrete slab.

Cabinet grade plywood can be used to construct the bookshelves to accommodate books in the café. All that’s needed to be done is trim the exposed edges of the plywood with hardwood to make it stiffer and stronger.

The bar area can be constructed with woodland panels. Faux woodland panels are easy to handle and lightweight, and doesn’t require any maintenance. These panels used to construct the bar gives an authentic look and are very attractive. Furthermore, the bar will be capped with a stainless steel top to produce a shiny surface. The bar area will also be equipped with wooden bar stools to match the bar itself.

Bar made of wooden panels Timber flooring

COURTYARD

The courtyard ground is paved with stones tiles which works as the best option for the outdoors. These stones are earthy, durable and slip resistant. Grey stone tiles can be used and laid well to produce a more earthly feeling.

The planter boxes in the courtyard can be crafted by recycled and sustainably sourced timber. They can be left in their original rustic form to complement the outdoor courtyard style. These materials require minimal maintenance and are ideal for confined spaces such as courtyards.

Timber planter boxes Stone tiles

Throughout this project, we have done numerous analysis and researches to get the best for the construction. A thorough analysis for the site and a survey was conducted before planning and deciding on the type of construction. The plans were revised to get the most ideal layout so that it serves the needs of the client. Different materials were sourced and the costing for each materials were shown.

This is a project that requires the knowledge of the construction industry. It is essential to understand it well so that the project can be completed well and on time.

CONCLUSION