No_6_1959 — Page 40

ட 4

1734 1 | 2 3 4 5 OFT.

SCALE

ROOM RAISED 4FT. ABOVE GROUND

240 SQ.FT

−23

MOVABLE SCREEN

5678

HAT

UP

BAMBOO MAT SCREEN-

YARD

KITCHEN

6′′ ABOVE GROUND LEVEL

UP

B.R.

TANK

Malaya Gets Wooden

Houses At

Low Cost

By R.H.H. Davis, B. Arch., A.R.I.B.A. and H.J. Burgess, B.Sc.. A.M.I. Mech. E., A.M.I.E.E.

Figure 2.

13 $Q.FT

Figure 1.

450

2345

7

ΤΗ

HE forests of Malaya have for centuries provided the in- habitants with nearly all they need for making their houses. The traditional Malay house, of strong durable timber with a roof thatched with leaflets of palm (attap) is a well-built functional structure well adapted to the needs of the rural dweller. In modern times timber is still abundant, although the more durable species have become re- latively scarce and expensive, and the house in which timber provides a large proportion of the frame and cladding has an important advantage over any other form of construction. Thus the house of really low cost is necessarily a

wooden one.

price

re-

The scarcity of naturally durable timbers has becomes less important in recent years. Some of the more populous parts of the country are now served by pressure treatment plants in which many of the latively perishable woods can be made as durable as the best. Know- ledge of wood preservation pro- cesses is spreading gradually, and the next few years may see treat- ment plants of various kinds spread over the whole area of Malaya.

The simplest form of local con- struction in timber uses round jungle poles nailed together or bound by rotan, with an attap roof laid on rows of round members of small diameter. Until recently, this was the most obvious way of mak- ing a very cheap dwelling. With present costs, however there are many who say that when mainten- ance is taken into account, the attap roof is not by any means cheap

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