wangsa ukay
Susanne Ziedler and Huat Lim purchased No.39 Jalan Wangsa 9 in 1994. The unit was a link-terrace typology, designed in 1985, by TR Hamzah & Yeang. Upon acquiring the property, the new owners, both architecture graduates, one from the Barlett School of Architecture at UCL in London and the other from the Architecture Associates (AA), also in London, began the process of adapting it to the needs of young couple with two infants and a housekeeper.
The initial crucial innovation saw the shifting of all the wet areas i.e. bathrooms and toilets to one side of the house in order to open up the spaces. The original compartmented plan was completely altered and internal walls were torn down. Conceptually, these changes were driven by their desire to live in an open-plan house, without specific rooms, where only curtains and shelves defined the spaces.
The house had undergone other radical changes. The main criterion was the dwelling should be fully natural ventilated and air-conditioning should be eliminated. Their two children having ‘flown the nest’ their parents took the opportunity to introduce outdoor landscape. Voids were created, and airwell and a skylight for an indoor tree were introduced. The house was extended by adding a cage-like enclosure with organic gardening at the rear of the house and the existing retaining wall became a landscape feature which could change over time.
