Sekeping Serendah’s interior by Seksan Design.
(Source: Whatevertherewas)

SHAH ALAM – ‘Green’ building is a new form of architecture where they emphasise on building structures that are environmentally responsible and minimizing the cost of operation, renovation as well as maintenance. In other words, green building is also known as high performance building or sustainable building.

In an interview with Zafree Azhar, 23, Interior Designer at Studio Kanta, who is also a fresh graduate that has showcased his designs at the Royal Institute of British Architects was delighted to share his knowledge and thoughts on green building.

“The first thing that we have to put in mind before designing a "green building" is that we have to make sure that the building should be respectful towards nature," said Zafree during the interview with Berita DIMENSi through Google Meet.

In Malaysia, to be qualified as a green building, an assessment was done by the Malaysian Institute of Architects according to the Green Building Index (GBI) requirements and criterias. Their aim of establishing the GBI is to provide a consistent and trusted benchmark and accreditation together with the growing number of green buildings in the country.

The GBI is classified into four categories with a point-based system which requires a minimum of 60 points to be in the Certified tier (lowest tier) as a green building while a building with 86 points and above will be awarded as Platinum tier (highest tier).

Zafree also emphasises that the placement of green elements, water features as well as the positioning of the sun should be taken into account during the first step in designing the concept and structure planning of the building.

The architectural design of Menara Mesiniaga.
(Source: Pinterest)

“Menara Mesiniaga is among the first green buildings to be built in our country, however if you go there around this time the condition of the trees that were placed encompassing the building are dying.

“Sometimes planning alone is not enough as what Menara Mesiniaga has shown us that there are other aspects that we have to be aware of, such as our country's climate where the humidity here is high throughout the year,” said Zafree.

A green building should also be sustainable and durable. As an example, we can see how well Studio Bikin came up with Plan B in Ipoh and Seksan Design that designed Sekeping Serendah in Selangor . They incorporated nature very well and at the same time conserving it.

“It is so hard to build a green building, it costs a huge amount of funding and the designers have to put a lot of thought into the design,” added Zafree.

Nowadays, modern architecture is assimilating green architecture in their design to improve the effectiveness and to make the building more sustainable as well as to improve the quality of the occupants living inside.

Like the article? Share it now!