ALUMINIUM IN MALAYA VARSITY BUILDINGS
By A. H. Swift M. A. and J. R. Staehelin M. S.
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Contemporary designs and
the
A close-up of the Library (photo. 2 in text).
well- construction had to be kept low plication. Although fixed louvres are defined lines are a feature of the without sacrificing quality or aesthetic quite effective in buildings where the University of Malaya buildings already appeal. Various materials were select- walls may be located in exactly the erected in Kuala Lumpur.
ed for various parts of the buildings, right direction, in the present instance and aluminium was chosen for both the stringent requirements for pre- the roofs and the louvres, since it is venting glare in classrooms and the ideally suited to meet the required library, and the difficulty of exactly standards of coolness, freedom from positioning the buildings, made ad maintenance, long life and ease of justable louvres a necessity. handling.
Whereas for the Arts Faculty ver- aluminium which has been incor- Considerable thought was given to tical louvres were found satisfactory. porated in the design of the buildings. the correct type of louvres necessary for the library, which stands at right The photographs included in this to give the best results for this ap angles, horizontal louvres were found report illustrate only a small section.
Due to the modern aspect of University, the architects obviously considered up-to-date materials for both roofing and other facets of the buildings, and this article is concern- ed with the effective use made of
of the University. The first shows the Faculty of Arts, with the classrooms in the foreground and the
adminis-
tration building visible between the gables; the second is a close-up of the library building; and the third shows the roof of the administration build- ing, Faculty of Arts, which is not visible from below. Finally, the fourth was taken from the roof of the administration building down on- to the Faculty of Arts classrooms.
These three buildings were design- ed by Mr. William Chen, A.R.I.B.A., of Messrs. Palmer & Turner, architects in Kuala Lumpur. The cost of
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Faculty of Arts with classrooms in foreground and Administration Building visible between gables. (photo. 1).
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3