No_6_1959 — Page 42

could of course be applied, but the extension of life achieved by this means is not as reliable as in the case of sawn timber, and there are difficulties in obtaining poles of species that can be treated easily. Apart from these problems, pole- and-attap buildings are unsightly compared with those of sawn timber. For isolated jungle dwellings they are still necessary and acceptable. but the increasingly sophisticated resident of thickly populated regions asks for a house of better ap- pearance.

The low cost house in Malaya, then, is of sawn timber with sheet roofing. In the past, such buildings have been erected in large numbers covering a great range of qualities. from flimsy structures of low-grade timber to sturdy dwellings of dur- able or pressure-treated timber. The construction of better-class buildings of this type has been developed widely by the Housing Trust in the nine years since it was established. The Housing Trust is a statutory

semi-Government body responsible to the Minister of the Interior, and acts as the Minister's agent for the spending of Federal Government funds allocated for low cost hous- ing. The funds are granted as low- interest loans to local authorities for the provision of housing, and the

Trust is responsible for the design and construction of the buildings. eventually handing them over for administration by the local authority.

In earlier work of the Trust, it was expected that a prefabricated system of construction would be the most economical. A timber frame was provided for the support of the walls and roof, and filled with non- structural panels providing door and window units and plain boarded units. The smallest house of this type is shown in plan in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 is an axonometric view show- ing the construction of the main frame before addition of the roof and the cladding panels. Fig. 3 shows a stage in the construction of the first house of this design, erect- ed at the Merdeka Exhibition near Kuala Lumpur in 1957. The main living accommodation is in timber. but the rear portion of the building was made in brick, partly because a flue had to be provided for a wood- burning fireplace, and partly to en- sure adequate durability in the lower portions of the bathroom walls.

The floor of the house is raised above ground level on the main posts, which terminate in metal feet designed to keep them clear of the ground and thus avoid early deterioration at ground level. The

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Page 42 completed house (Fig. 4) is a very sturdy structure of great popular appeal, and has been built in con- siderable numbers at a site in cen- tral Malaya. Three views of the site. are shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

The building shown under con- struction in Fig. 5 is of the small type just described but with slight modifications. including a small porch roof over the front steps. The means of ventilating the roof while preventing the ingress of driving rain can also be seen in the photo- graph. The cost of this house was $1934 or about $5.20 per square foot, including electricity supply, piped water and separate bucket latrine.

*

Figs. 6 and 7 show larger houses built on the same site. The type in Fig. 6 cost $3.90 per square foot including all services, giving a total cost of $2860. As may be deduced from the appearance of the gable- end walls. all the houses were de- signed for prefabricated facture.

manu.

* $8.57 Malayan equals £1 sterling.

(This is the first part of a two-part article. Mr. Davis is Chief Architect and Executive Officer, Housing Trust, Federation of Ma'aya. Co-author, Mr. Burgess, is Timber Research Officer, Forest Dept., Malaya.)

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