This design project explores into designing a residential area within the urban context of Kuching City which the town itself is multicultural, heritage both tangible and intangible. The design explorations center on how to transform an existing heritage village into an urbanised residential which suits with vast growing of Kuching City. Kampung Sinjan become one of the important point of node for Kuching development through their heritage and economy.

Design for River of Life Residence is influenced by the surrounding context of Kuching town especially the site itself; Kampung Sinjan. The residential area will be one of the landmark of Kuching town and help to revitalise the Northern area of Kuching. Concept of the residential area is driven by heritage and history of penambang which has been existed along Sarawak River for decades. This is one of the main factor which will help to revitalise the penambang as the culture is slowly dying due to construction of Darul Hana Bridge causing a depleting number of people using the penambang.

When designing the residential area, the urban context and culture need to be considered in order to respect the existing context of the site. The main idea or question that become the pillar during the design process is how to design a residence which respect the site context and preserve the existing culture and characteristic of Sarawak Malay house. Most residences within Malaysia focuses on luxury and comfort of living for the occupants which not emphasizing on few factors such as community, tradition, economy and social. As for this project, we need to provide a space for the existing dweller of Kampung Sinjan who has settled around the area for generations based on community living, social and economical.