Towards the Betterment of Workers’ Quarters Within Construction Site in Light of Covid-19 Pandemic : Case Study of Workers’ Quarters in Kuching City South, Sarawak

Covid-19 pandemic has been the cause of the most significant global revolution in recent times. The attack from an invisible enemy had caught the world unprepared since its first reported outbreak from Wuhan, China, in 2019. As a result, challenges arising from that of unimaginable proportions soon followed suit, and the world felt the impact of those challenges on so many levels. Most of the economy’s industries had been greatly affected, with the construction industry being one of the hardest hit. Sarawak’s construction industry is not spared either, as several construc-tion site clusters resulting from workers’ quarters popped up from the circle. The scenario creates awareness of the importance of improving the quality of workers’ quarters. The Sarawak State Government, through its Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, had formulated a guideline for Local Authorities on the temporary permit application for workers’ quarters’ building within construc-tion sites. The response of the permit is studied using a qualitative approach through a case study of workers’ quarters within construction sites in the jurisdiction of Kuching City South as the primary research method. The study is mainly based on observation and literature review and discusses the permit implementation response among the construction industry players. The findings from this paper conclude that the implementation of the permit could be observed further to capture a greater level of compliance and accountability to improve the quality of workers’ quarters for occupational safety and the general health of labourers

Housing Transformation Review: A Case Study of Low Medium Cost Settlement

Good quality housing is a key element for ensuring a healthy environment. A good house design produces a favorable and comfortable environment. In a hot-humid climate country like Malaysia, the indoor environment often faces issue on heat gain reduction in building spaces due to the commonly increase in high air temperature, relative humidity and low air movement. This leads to thermal discomfort of building occupants. Thus, housing transformation, more often than not is done in order to improve the housing condition and to fulfill the needs of household. This paper discusses the factors influencing transformation and the implications of the transformation activities ensuing spatial qualities. A study was conducted at Taman Sourabaya Indah, Kuching. As a result, 18% of the residents still keep the original design of their houses, while 57% and 25% of houses had gone through horizontal and full transformation respectively. These transformations were done based on physical, social and economic factors. The study concludes that housing transformation occurs to be one of the means for the people especially from low or low medium income earners who strive to get access to housing supply. The intention for a house transformation comes from the residents’ desire to improve their dwelling place, taking into account the physical characteristics of the building in which they live but the ensuing changes can be assumed to have far reaching socio-economic implications

Night Market Phenomena: Its Contribution to The Sustainability of Urban Space

Scientists identified 3 main elements of sustainable development, namely: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability. No doubt that it is difficult to intertwine harmoniously the anthropocentric among social and economic objectives with the ecocentric’s ecologic objectives. Likewise, sustainable development can be achieved through synthesis approach between economic, social and environment. Thus, these concepts will be the result of development which has 3 dimensions - economic, social and environmental. Each of these components has its level of priority. Given the urban context, the impact of activities either negative or positive towards the sustainability concomitantly related to consequences of development. By taking Malaysia and Thailand as a case study, this paper attempts to explore the night markets phenomena which has a positive impact on urban sustainability especially in small urban spaces. Harmonization of the economic, social and environment dimensions is continually formed after the economic recession of 1997. Economically, the night market traders can increase their incomes which derived from lower-middle economic class. Social interaction also occurs between merchants and buyers. Utilization of unused urban space as a ‘venue’ of night market evidently changed unused space into a place. The research was conducted in various urban areas of Malaysia and Thailand while one example of each country is discussed in this paper. This paper also delves into the issue of sustainability in the small urban space that has been developed by the urbanites to sustain their livelihood that slowly transform the unused urban space into a place

Recognizing Level of Attachment in Malacca Riverfront Promenade

The present city development tends to be disintegrating and decreasing the quality of its attachment and meaning. It is important to recognize the level of place attachment in existing locality, to understanding the significance of place attachment in influencing the identities. This paper intends to determine the importance of level of functional and emotional attachment in Malacca Riverfront Promenade (MRP) from users who involved in it. Score average 2.70 as result of functional attachment and score average 2.48 of emotional attachment measurement, indicate that respondents have strong level of attachment to the functional and emotional of open space and streets in MRP. Most of the respondents consider that they feel more attached to MRP caused by the significance of MRP for their life. Attachment emerged from the role of MRP as an environment to determine the reason of respondent to attached and gain the experience in MRP

The Impact of Road Pavement on Urban Heat Island (UHI) Phenomenon

An urban heat island (UHI) is a climatic phenomenon caused by modifications to the climate due to changes in the form and composition of the land surface and atmosphere. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of road pavement types for mitigating or intensifying UHI. This study was conducted in the Kota Samarahan area. Since Kota Samarahan is classified as a suburban area, it is still a developing district. Hence, there is still an opportunity for proper planning, such as choosing the most suitable type of pavement, before this area becomes a UHI. Data was collected by studying four types of pavements (asphalt, concrete, permeable, and industrialised building system (IBS) StormPav) in terms of their characteristics, performance, and maintenance costs. Additionally, their surface temperatures were investigated using ThermaCam and then plotted against the surrounding air temperature. Interview sessions were also conducted with the personnel of Jabatan Kerja Raya to obtain valuable information for this research. As a result, this study found that the construction of asphalt pavement can produce numerous potential impacts on the environment, which further contribute to air pollution and the UHI effect. Concrete, permeable, and IBS StormPav pavements retained less heat compared to asphalt, and can be implement to mitigate the UHI phenomenon. Furthermore, the implementation of green walls, cool roofs, vegetation and trees, and altering the properties and construction of asphalt pavement can help in mitigating this phenomenon

Traditional Dwellings Architecture Typology: Resettlement of The Malay Villages in Borneo, Malaysia

In recent days, demolition of old buildings in expense of new development is nothing new, especially in the city of Kuching as a large number of old buildings with local heritage values have been recklessly torn down. Some of these buildings held high historical significance and contributed to the character of the city, yet they were not being properly researched, recorded and documented before the eradication. Thus, this study intended to investigate the distinctiveness of the traditional Malay dwellings of Sarawak in 12 traditional villages that are on the verge of being demolished and resettled to a new residential development. The initial stage of the research was done by observing and inventory of five traditional houses which possess significant architectural construction methods and ornamentations. Two architecture typologies of these houses which is the fanlight and railing, were selected and analyzed by comparing with that of the Peninsular Malaysia, in order to determine their similarities and differences. From the analysis, it is found that these Malay traditional houses portray relatively similar architectural typologies, but are slightly different in terms of the patterns for the railing and the minimal geometrical ornamentation of the fanlight. These findings will be used as the basis for the future developments on the research of Sarawak traditional Malay dwellings

Bachelor of Science (Hons) Architecture UNIMAS

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Typology of Design Concepts for Luxury Car Showrooms

This paper attempts to characterize the typology of luxury car showrooms in Malaysia. The architectural design of luxury car showrooms is subject to changes and development of the economy, technology and behavior of the consumers in the market. It is also dependent on the brand’s Corporate Identity (C.I.), which is formed by cultural adaptations from its country of origin, competitors in the industry and the demands of car owners. Each brand must incorporate their own C.I. into the design of the showrooms to maintain standard requirements and safeguard the outlook and operation of the showrooms. This paper employs a case study approach as its main research method. The study is mainly based on observation on built examples and draws conclusion from the input of architects who are specialized in designing car showrooms in Malaysia. The findings indicate that the design typology of luxury car showrooms is an expression of the values of the brand’s C.I., integrates lounge spaces with the showroom area, constructed with premium quality materials and at times, be shaped by the design guidelines provided by the brands to comply with their international identity