Airy, Not Fairy
StarMag - Spaces, Sunday February 5, 2006 by Chin Mui Yoon
Wooi reinforces the Malaysian identity by using only local timber of resak, chengal and kempas favored for their natural grains.
Yet, is this house livable? My female instincts also continually question the dubious security afforded by all those glass panels, as opposed to solid concrete walls.
"There's only one entrance into the living room level made of solid wood held by a latch from the inside," Wooi points out.
"The dining hall, encircled almost completely by glass, is inaccessible from the outside because of its height on the slope of the hill, My German shepherd keeps guard downstairs, where she has free reign over the entire floor and garden."
The staircase often draws admiring gasps for its floating effect. Each step is made from a single plank of chengal wood, with dovetailed ends held securely to the wall with 10cm bolts.
Throughout the house, Wooi balances the hardness of wood and concrete with soft fabrics and textiles. The bedrooms are the epitome of tropical romance, with four-poster beds veiled with white muslin that looks ever so dreamy! Even the Woois' three young children have these beds.
The lucky kids also have a miniature cybercafé. The boys get to climb a ladder into a little loft tucked into an alcove beneath the roof in their room. Being able to touch the ceiling gives the boys an intimate feel of their home, explains Wooi.
Outside, a soft veil of bamboo encircles the house. The fast-growing grass has easily caught up with the height of the house.
Wooi also chose bamboo for its soothing rustling sounds and pretty leaves that provide privacy and yet translucent enough for sunlight to filter through.
From the upper floors, the greenery gives a feeling of living in a treetop canopy.
Plants are restricted to tropical varieties in the garden that also holds a lovely rectangular swimming pool in aqua-toned stones.
"The unfinished feel of my home is demonstrative of a work in constant progress," says Wooi.
"This is a home that's sensitive to its environment. After all, buildings will outlast us humans for...when designing them, we must consider what we're leaving behind for our children, and ask if the structures will remain useful and ideal in the future?
Lok Wooi's design for his Shah Alam hilltop bungalow won him the Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia Excellence Award in Architecture 2004.
