PROJECTS

The Bamboo Playhouse

Bamboo Playhouse

The team was approached by the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur to design a public pavilion in the capital city’s oldest and most picturesque park—the Perdana Botanical Garden. Situated on a small island and positioned along the edge of a lake that stretches through the centre of the park in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, it is popular among locals and tourists.

The design of the playhouse drew inspiration from vernacular structures called wakafs, which are originally found in villages or kampungs. They are freestanding shelters that offer indeterminate spaces and a place for the community to rest. The pavilion can be described as a series of wakafs grouped together to form a repetitive modular structure made from locally procured bamboo. This demonstrated its potential as a building material in sustainable construction, since it is rarely used in Malaysia’s contemporary buildings.

The pavilion consists of 31 identical square decks set at seemingly random heights to create a playful three-dimensional floorscape. There is a tree-like column at the centre of each deck that supports the roof. Bamboo baskets were hung off the columns to create ‘tree houses’, which added another dimension to the experience in the playhouse. The pavilion can be used as a shaded resting place, children’s play space and meeting place. It can also house events, exhibitions and performances.

PROJECT DATA
Project Name: The Bamboo House
Location: Perdana Botanical Garden, Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park, Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia
Completion Date: November 2015
Gross Floor Area: 320 square metres
Building Height: 4,500 metres (maximum)
Client/Owner: Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur City Hall)
Architecture Firm: Eleena Jamil Architect
Principal Architect: Eleena Jamil
Civil & Structural Engineer: DRSA Consulting Sdn Bhd
Main Contractor: Hamidah Fazilah Sdn Bhd
Images/Photos: Marc Tey Photography