Ar.Chew Sein Yat is a certified and licensed architect in Malaysia. He

was born in 22nd April 1973 in Singapore. His father itself worked as an

architecture which has influenced him to become an architect too. His father,

Ar Chew Chee Sun previously owned an architect firm name Cs Chew

Architects Sdn Bhd but has passed to his son, Ar.Chew Sein Yat around 2007.

He is currently the director of CS Chew Architects Sdn Bhd. Ar.Chew Sein Yat

have always had a passion for architecture. He gained lots of experiences

during his undergraduate life and took it to successful completion. Before he

started his own company, he gained his working experience by working in

Benoy Architects during his internship and CS Chew Chartered Architects &

Town Planners. Ar. chew not only gained experiences by working but also

gained experiences through handling of various projects. One of the big

projects he handled is 'The Crest' luxury residences located in Jalan Sultan

Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

The Crest is a freehold condominium in Kuala lumpur which completed

around the date of 2010.This prestigious development is surrounded in the

heart of Kuala Lumpur at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan Sultan

Ismail. It consists of two blocks which compromised of the private space, the

corporate offices and the public space, the residential units. it is a majestic

development that consists of 26-storeys floors, 44-levels residential and 6-

storeys of podium for retail and car park. The Crest offers luxurious facilities

to provide tenants a elegant, comfortable, modern, and stylish living by

applying high quality and luxury finishing for all the units furnitures. Staying

in this unit is like staying in a 5 stars hotel.

The purpose of this essay attempts to convey an understanding of

architect's architectural theory through a direct observation and analysis of

his buildings. Besides that, it also attempts to analyze architecture and urban

forms in relation to relevant architectural theories, analyze and critique the

relationship between architecture and its social, cultural and intellectual

context. Lastly, to produce, orally and in writing, a critical interpretation of

architecture and urbanism in relation to relevant theories within the

contemporary discourse of architecture. This project emphasizes architecture

is like language with vocabulary, grammatical structure; both physical and

intellectual. Through certain arrangement, it carries messages and

communicates meanings.

To understand more about this building, the site analysis have been

conducted. The purpose of the analysis is to provide informations about the

site assets. The site analysis includes the climate, architecture theory and

the users.

Different climate determine the location and the shape of the building. From

the diagram above, we can determine that 'The Crest' was built according to

the climate. The building took advantage of the natural conditions to keep

the living space comfortable. The east and west facade of the condominium

were covered with vegetations.The south and east facade of the building had

lots of open space around with a few tall trees that cast almost no shadows

onto the façade so the two facade were selected to cover with vegetations.

The vegetations were used for shading, evapotranspiration, and to cool the

interior and surrounding air. Besides using the vegetation to solve the

problem, the glazing with a double and triple paned glass with low e-coating.

Low e-coating glass is a very thin metallic dual layer coating. It allows the

sunlight to penetrate through the insulating glass, but at the same time it

reflect the radiant heat back toward its source. Since it reflects radiant heat

waves, it helps to minimize the amount of heat transmitted into the space.

The crest consists of two towers with an open space atrium between

both of the tower. This building uses the principles of stack ventilation effect.

The cool air from outside is sucked through low inlet openings. The warm air

inside the building is less dense than cooler air outside, and thus the heat

escape from the open space of the central atrium. Openings of the inlet and

outlet should be almost the same size to encourage even air flow through

the vertical space. While, the roof is visibly expressed. It do not just function

as a protection but also as an overhang. The roof was extended out on the

east and west facade to act as the shading device but at the same time act

as part of the roof design. The overhangs of roof keeps heat from coming in

through windows while still allowing some daylight in and out.

Besides that, the crest do not just design according to the the climate

but also the user itself.

From the exterior space, the aluminum mesh creates a unique , beautiful and

interesting facade design. the mesh acts as a separating device but on the

other hands connecting the outside and inside space together which provide

unity, togetherness, passage of daylight and a clear view through the dense

space.

The structure itself can obviously seen as a public and private space.

The public space was presented in the taller building with clear glasses

represent welcoming while the shorter building with opaque glasses

represent privacy.

Crest roof, the most prominent and eye catching component of the

structure. The shape of the rood is the most attractive and visibly expressed

from the exterior . A clean geometric shape with a sharp edge allowing the

roof to above the walls and equip the building with a lightness of touch. The

roof have transformed the feel of the structure, with all living areas bathed

with natural light and at particular times of the day, direct sunlight.

While the interior, one of the prominent component about the unit was

the pivoting panels. It can be seen once the user enters the unit. The

pivoting panels with glass makes the space larger and outside space can be

seen where it creates a feeling of welcoming . When all the panels are

rotated, and turned to an angle, there’s continuity and threshold between

the interior and exterior creating transitions from one space to another. It

also creates a feeling of luxury and openness yet providing privacy to the

users.

The living room was painted with orange as it is a non common color.

The color provide the identity of the building itself. Orange, a bright and light

colour that make the space appear to be bigger and grand. It helps to

enhance a feeling of vitality and happiness. This color can be inviting and

friendly to the user. The color orange itself makes the space feel cozier and

comfortable. Warm colors don not just make user feel productive but also

happier.

The master bedroom is another interesting space in the unit. The

bathroom of the master bedroom shows some bold in a small space. The

vertical timber stripes pattern on the are makes the low ceiling seem taller

and pop out in the area. It helps reflect natural light and the light from the

ceiling creating an illusion that the space looks wider and deeper.

Lastly, the architecture theories. The architecture theory i applied in

this building is 'form follows function'. This theory is a famous phrase coined

by the American architect, Louis Sullivan where the shape of a building or

object should be designed to suit it purpose. Clear distinctive between public

and private space has obviously shown from the exterior of the building

itself. The public space is clad in transparent glass to show the continuity

between inside and outside while the private space is clad in more opaque

class.

This theory emphasize on the use of modern material and design. The

columns in The Crest were made of stainless steel. Long span steel permit

open column-free spaces. It do not just profile the identity of modernism but

also an excellent thermal insulation, corrosion resistance and longevity

properties. Concretes were used as a finishes material to enhance comfort

for user. While the design of forms follow function emphasize on open plan

and flowing interior spaces. Living spaces are no longer defined by doors,

walls and hallways. Instead of interior walls functioning as support walls,

they serve more as room dividers or for appearance purposes. All the interior

space such as living, dining and kitchen area tend to flow and connect

together as one contiguous space. The open plan reflect a more casual,

comfort and relaxed way of life. The living room , kitchen and dining area in

The Crest were all connected together. It allows visual connection and also

allow sound to travel easily around . This design also allows great natural

light and view into the space throughout the day and feeling more spacious.

In addition, simplicity in form and design was clearly expressed in the

theory of form follows function. The design of Crest condominium is clean,

functional and simple. Shapes of building are based on linked boxed . Line of

modernism which are regular, straight and angled rather than carved and

curved were clearly shown in The Crest to reflect modern lifestyles that have

become more simplified.

Last but not least, the use of large expanses of glass from floor to

ceiling windows and lots of sliding doors in the unit were used to take

advantage of the dramatic views and natural landscaping. “Clerestory”

windows were also included that are set high in the walls of the unit to let in

light while preserving privacy.

As a conclusion, analysis of the building is an important as it is a part

of a design process and design decisions. The factor of climate, architectural

theory and user factors can give a big impact and influence to the design

and form of the building. Ar.Chew Sein Yat has applied form follows function

in The Crest Condominium. In part one of this project 'self', Ar.Chew Sein Yat

stated that he don't mind to compromise architecture aesthetics to make it

easier to be built and easier to be maintained. Ar. Chew have adopted form

follow function