be of the same size as the throne room and will also rise the full height of the building, skirted on the upper floors by galleries to the various suites. An imposing stairway will connect this floor to the first floor and lifts will be installed on both sides of the hall.
On the right hand side of the re- ception concourse as one enters the palace, will be the main lounge and the banqueting hall. On the other side of the ground floor will be the administrative wing and the Royal art gallery. The kitchen and its ancil- laries will be grouped together and centrally located to service the ban- queting hall as well as the Royal suites.
Enclosing the entire ground floor will be a perforated wall of terrazzo grilles interlaced with gold anodised aluminium screens to provide a study in contrast. This screen will ensure a sense of privacy while at the same time providing adequate ventilation. In the daytime, it will also serve as a
sun screen.
As the palace building will "sit" in the middle of an ornamental reflect- ing pool, entry into the palace will be over two concrete ramps suspend- ed over the pool. They will be locat- ed at either ends of the building, the one in front leading into the recep- tion concourse, while the other will lead to the private entrance and stair- way for the Royal family.
Below the level of the moat-like re- flecting pool will be the sub-ground floor. A private car park for the Royal family, store rooms and the central air-conditioning plant will be located here.
Paved Promenade
A paved promenade will be con- structed on the right side of the build- ing, facing the main lounge and ban- queting hall. Measuring 400 ft. long and 200 ft. wide, this promenade will become a parade ground for cere- monial occasions. Ample parking space will be provided all round the palace.
The main materials used in the construction of the building will be marble and timber. The walls of the suites in the first floor will be panelled with local timber, while the flooring will be of marble from Pulau Lang- kawi, off the west coast of Malaya, north of Penang island. The mul- tiple columns supporting the whole building will also be sheathed in black marble.
The whole colour motif of the palace will be black and white, coupled with the rich brown colour of local timber and the gold of the anodised aluminium screen.
The cost of the palace building alone is estimated to be about M$4.5 million. It will take at least two years to complete.
In addition to the palace building. quarters for the palace staff and re- tainers of the Royal household will also be built. These buildings will
be located close to the palace but concealed from sight by strategically planted trees to ensure privacy for the palace.
A private golf course for the par- amount ruler, tennis courts and swim- ming pools will also be included in the palace grounds, adding consider- ably to the actual cost of the palace itself.
One of the first tasks when con- struction begins will be the laying of the foundation for a private dual car- riageway connecting the palace to Jalan Duta, about a mile away. A pair of large, ornamental gates com- plete with a guard house will be situ- ated at the entrance of this driveway, which will be flanked on both sides by graceful palms.
were
Plans for the new palace were made as early as 1962, but shelved by the Government in favour of other more pressing national needs. However, the construction of the palace is expected to come up for consideration again next year, under the first Malaysian Five Year Plan.
As Mr. Goh said, "All we are wait- ing for now is the green light. Once that is given, tenders will be asked for the construction of the building."
Original Plans
ex-
Mr. Goh originally designed the palace purely as his final year amination thesis at the Melbourne University in 1959. At that time, there was no proposal as yet to re- place the present Istana Negara in Jalan Taylor. He therefore treated the design purely as an experiment. It won him top marks in his class and enabled him to graduate from the university.
Later the architect was called back from a lecturing post at the Mel- bourne University and put on con- tract to the Public Works Department to design the new palace, at the ex- press wish of the Prime Minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman,
S. E. ELEVATION
For the real thing, he had to adapt his original design considerably. The original plans called for a much big- ger building with a throne room com- pletely separate from the main palace building itself. It was to have been set apart from the palace as a lone lofty building based on a pedestal and dramatically reflected in a pool of water like a sparkling jewel.
The main idea then was to make the throne room a significant depar- ture from other palaces which in- variably have this most important ceremonial room lost in a maze of other rooms. Only an impressive ceremonial way was to have connect- ed this throne room to the palace proper.
Too Spacious
The original plans also called for the Royal suites to occupy four storeys, the paramount ruler's suite and private lounge being on the first floor, those of visiting royalty on the second, and their retinue on the third. The suites were also to have been built around an inner courtyard con- sisting of water and water fountains.
A huge dome was also to have been built on the roof along with four minarets rising to about 200 ft. high.
This concept was however too spacious for the real palace and would have cost well over M$10 mil- lion to implement. Mr. Goh has therefore accordingly adapted the plans to make the palace as compact as possible, yet retaining all the func- tionability of the original design.
In his present design the throne room will no more be set apart from the palace proper, but instead central- ly placed within the building itself. The original plan for a "cooling pool" within an inner courtyard has also been scrapped. Final touches are still being made on the present plans, but they will not alter the fact that once the palace is built, it will surely stand out as the nation's foremost building.
South East elevation of the original design for the palace. The huge dome centrally placed on top of the roof, the wings on either side of the building and the two towering minarets have been scrapped from the present design.
Far East Architect & Builder September, 1965
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