LIVEABLE-SKYSCRAPER

TOWARDS A MORE SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE SKY

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

INTRODUCTION

STATISTICS

It is estimated that more than 75 per cent of the

worlds population will live in urban areas by year
2050.

The total population in Malaysia estimated at the

end of year 2013 was approximately 29,620,000
people. This has shown an increase of 283,000
people compared to year 2012.
(countryeconomy.com, 2013)

As the population continue to increase, the

migration of people from other states into
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur continue to rise.

According to Real Estate and Housing Developers

Association (Rehda) national treasurer Datuk N K
Tong, there is a need to speed up the number of
residential units being built to meet the
increasing demand in property.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

INTRODUCTION

ISSUE

As the city continues to build vertically, the

liveability of a high-rise building has been
neglected. Too much focus is put in optimising
the floor plate's net-to-gross efficiency for
commercial reason when designing a tall building.

When considering a building to be sustainable,

too much focus is put into the building
performance and environment sustainability

The Green Building Index, being the only

assessment tool in Malaysia to measure the
sustainability of a building do not take into
considerations the social sustainability

very minimal consideration towards social

sustainability. This has resulted in the lack of
consideration to public and communal spaces
when building vertically.

High-rise buildings are estranging in many ways, and the

challenge in designing high-rise building is the design for quality
of external spaces. (WOHA Architects, 2011)

INTRODUCTION

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

The challenge of this design thesis is to explore incorporation of public open spaces in
order to achieve a habitable and liveable skyscraper to suit the needs of an increasing
population and density.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

Aim /Objectives

Main Objectives/Aim
This design thesis aims to explore incorporation of
public recreational spaces in order to achieve a
habitable and liveable skyscraper to suit the needs of
an increasing population and density.
Sub Objectives/Sub research Questions
To identify and examine the principles of liveable
public spaces

To study the extent and explore the incorporation

of such spaces in current high rise architecture
both in the western and Asian context.

To explore a prototype of liveable skyscraper

through a design project

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

BACKGROUND STUDY

Background: Typology Study on High-rise

Residential in Malaysia

Late 1980s First high rise residential introduced

To promote affordable housing

Current high-rise typology according to Manual

Guidelines and Selangor State Planning Standards

Low cost flats

Medium to high cost apartments
SOHO
Service Apartments

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

BACKGROUND STUDY

1. Low cost flats & medium to high cost apartments (minimum guidelines)
-

two hectares of open field, providing playground for children and a kick-volleyball (sepak takraw),
badminton or tennis court for every 1000 residents.

Other facilities : kindergarten, surau, letter room, management office, and the reading room. The
guidelines have also stated that rooftop garden is allowed but not more than 30% of the
provided open field.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

BACKGROUND STUDY

1.3.2 Soho and Serviced Apartment typology (minimum guidelines)

-

to introduce mixed use developments in Malaysia as early as the mid-90s

2 hectares of open field for every 1000 occupants, which provides recreational facilities such as
playground, badminton, tennis or squash court and jogging track.

Part of these required landscaping can be provided into part of the building either underground,
in between floors or on roof top.

Other amenities (SOHO) : surau, local shops (e.g. laundry, salon, mini market, stationary shops
and caf), management office, swimming pool, gymnasium, and multipurpose conference room.
(to be located on different floor from the SOHO units)

Additional amenities (serviced apartment) kindergarten for every 200 units, mini library or
reading room with IT access and a restaurant or food court.

Illustration of SOHO

Illustration of serviced apartment

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

BACKGROUND STUDY

Summary

these high-rise residential typologies have evolved and improved to meet the needs of people in
terms of lifestyle quality.

The evolution of high-rise residential in Malaysia has taken public spaces into consideration by
just making it mandatory to provide these spaces. Developers on the other hand are just
achieving these requirements to gain planning approvals.

Provided guidelines and planning standards for high-rise development has led to forms generated
mainly based on them.

This has resulted in the vertical zoning in high-rise developments, leading to a poor socially
interacted neighbourhood vertically.

Most of the public spaces provided are either on the ground levels, or close to the ground level
on a podium. These typologies have developed through the restrictions of guidelines, and have
minimal considerations into the social sustainability in vertical neighbourhood.

Expected outcomes & significance

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

1.5 Expected Outcomes

a prototype building for high-rise residential in order to achieve a more
socially sustainable sky neighbourhood.

1.6 Significance
prototype building, or as a baseline building for future skyscraper planning
in order to achieve a socially sustainable high-rise in Malaysia.

Research Methodology

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

Research Methodology

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

The liveability of a place has a strong relationship with the quality of neighbourhood.
Community liveability is defined as the social quality of an area as perceived by residents,
employees, customers and visitors.
Liveability of an area depends very much on the safety and health, local environmental
conditions, opportunities for recreation and entertainment, and the quality of social
interactions which include neighbour relationship, respect and community identity.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

Place-making in high-rise
CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

In-Between Space
Multiple Ground Floors

Decompartmentalising

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

Place-making in high-rise

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

Place-making in high-rise

The flipping of the city to create vertical

neighbourhood by PinkCloud

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

In Between Space

The trees in the forest grove outside the glass lobby

are extended inside passing through the glass lobby
to diminish the boundaries between the inside and
the outside.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

In Between Space

spaces between the skin and the

building as potential in-between space

Called the vertical back lane, it provides

transparency, movement and
spontaneity of casual activity.

Office buildings are often a stacked up

floor plates with no form of connection
within each other. However in the PJTC
building, the vertical back lanes provide
spaces for informal activities, with visual
connectivity to other offices vertical back
lane, it resulted in a new form of vertical
neighbourhood.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

In Between Space

The street width works on the ground

levels, but when extruded up to 50-60
storeys high, the scale become inhuman.

This can be solved by inserting horizontal

slots to divide the vertical floors.
Scale obtained from local context

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

Multiple Ground Floors

Sky garden concept by Singapore architect Tan Cheng Siong

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

Multiple Ground Floors

Introduction of intermediate levels, comprising social as well as

other public and civic functions.
Insertion of horizontal planes into vertical buildings need to be
translated at strategic horizons within and between buildings in
the sky.
As a result, it create more opportunities to achieve dynamic visual
connections between building spaces while producing various
covered tropical open-air spaces.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

CASE STUDY : HIGH RISE

Decompartmentalising

The spatial transitions within a high-rise building should be

designed to be a bending space rather than breaking or
separating.
Secondary spaces and by organically linking the vertically stacked
spaces, the design is capable to break away from the segmented
compartments.
volumetrically connect either by physical, spatial or visual, the
internal spaces to the transitional spatial volumes like the
atriums.

Liveable-Skyscraper: Towards a more socially sustainable sky neighbourhood

Events
Spatial transitions
Environments inside out
Security - surveillance