S P Setia Headquarters, MALAYSIA | Shatotto

 

Name & Location: S P Setia Headquarters, Malaysia

Description of Project:

Parasol and Columns - S P Setia is one of the largest real estate developers in Malaysia. Their new large venture “Setia Alam” is located in Shah Alam, a city on the western border of Kuala Lumpur. In these approximately five thousand acres, S P Setia decided to build their headquarters on a four-acre plot of land. This prompted the idea for a very formal design approach, to emphasize the company's social commitment to Malaysia's national development and to establish itself in this new city.

In the first instance, the architect wanted to emphasize S P Setia's ability to provide a positive response to the environment. For this reason, the entire design involved the application of high-performance features in green architecture. During the conceptual phase, the "Setia Persiaran" highway to the south and the large rainwater reservoir on the east side played an important role in determining the design decisions. To enhance the maximum public connectivity from a distance, this southeast corner was developed with special care. The nine columns rising 36.58 meters lift the building like a parasol into the sky. These columns also echo the monumentality of Greek architectural language translated into the context of a Malaysian climate. The introduction of a large, shallow water body at ground level makes the building look almost as if it is floating, while also honoring the importance of rain in this part of the world. The avoidance of any typical boundary demarcations on the east flank, together with physical and visual links with the rainwater catchment pond and the surrounding landscape endow the building with certain humility, without forgoing its actual identity.

Materials of Construction Details:

Concrete, brick, glass, steel joists.

Special Features:

Green Architecture - The Setia Headquarters is designed throughout according to state-of-the-art "green" building standards, and is the first private commercial building in Malaysia to receive the "Platinum" certification for green architecture.

The facades facing north, east and south comprise double-glazing curtain walls with full height low-E glass to allow optimal daylight penetration with minimal solar heat gain and glare. The west-facing façade is a reinforced concrete wall with minimal openings. Building services are located on the western façade with minimum openings to minimize heat gain, thus reducing reliance on mechanical cooling.The roofs of the tower and annexe building are covered with turf and landscaped to help minimize solar heat gain as well.

The building uses energy very efficiently. The building envelope was designed to enhance the overall thermal performance, thus reducing the overall cooling load requirement. The use of sustainable materials was emphasized throughout the building. A rainwater harvesting system efficiently collects rainwater that falls on the roof of the building for use in toilet flushing and irrigation.

General open plan workstations with one-metre high clear glass panel partitions allow unobstructed views across the open space, with external views shared by all. This also helps cut down the need for artificial lighting.