Ban Hock Residence
Ban Hock Residence sits on a small, half acre plot in the heart of the city of Kuching, amongst an eclectic mix of shoplots, commercial buildings, heritage bungalows and a nearby temple. Housing 108 small to medium sized apartment units, its 14 storey chiseled form a direct representation of the one-third height planning envelope, a quirk of the Sarawak planning controls. Seen from afar, it takes on the silhouette of the local vernacular, pitched roof houses of rural Kuching.
Compact & Open
Apartment units wrap around the North, East and South, avoiding the West, to form an open ‘C’. Despite its constrained and irregular footprint, the floor plan achieves a high level of efficiency while remaining open and porous, allowing for cross ventilation and interiors to be naturally lit.
A Common Envelope
The facade is monolithic in its expression, punched with openings, each representing a room, a space, a dwelling. The skin, in this case becoming a device which brings the community together, wrapping and enveloping.
Communal Canyon
With footprint at a premium, open space is instead achieved vertically. The lift lobbies, fire escape stairs are co-opted into this common realm, creating a highly varied stack of shared community spaces – a communal ‘canyon’ that runs the full 14 storey height of the building. Lateral connections emerge, allowing for a non-linear way of experiencing the building, encouraging interactions and making ‘community’ visible.
| Client | HSL Realty Sdn Bhd |
| Collaborator | Design Network Architects |
| Location | Kuching, Sarawak |
| Project Components | 108 Units, Serviced Apartments |
| Stage | SPA Approval |