A combination of population growth and urbanization has
resulted in ever higher land cost, making it impossible for many people to
afford landed property. They have to make do with apartments. The lack of
privacy, of a sense of community, of green open spaces, safe and secure for
children to play; these are some of the drawbacks of apartment living. Most
people believe that high rise housing is not suited for raising children,
something that is reinforced by research in the last 50 years. In a survey of
129 scientific studies by Robert Gifford in 2007, not one concludes that high
rise apartments are beneficial to children.
Now imagine a new high rise design where the residents of
its double storey apartments can walk straight out their front door onto their
very own garden and a six storey high landscaped communal courtyard. Having
such a generous provision of green open space can overcome the many defects of
high rise housing. It can give ALL of its occupants, especially young children
and the elderly, direct access from their front doors to courtyards with grass
and big trees without the danger from cars and strangers.
The orientation of the building can allow in plenty of light
and ventilation but provides cover from direct rainfall. A 30-storey high rise residential building for instance will
have car parks safely tucked away in the podium block. Above it are stacked 16
secure car-free courtyard neighbourhoods, each surrounded by 18 apartments or
less. The many courtyards create ‘Neighbourhoods in the Sky’ where adults can
socialise and children of all ages can play outdoors together, something that
used to happen in Malaysian kampongs.
This arrangement of small groups of apartment households
surrounding a communal courtyard makes it easier for neighbours to get to know
each other and children can play in the courtyards under the watchful eyes of
their parents and neighbours.
In this illustration you can see the row of doors that open
out to the courtyard. But how do we manage to provide access to all the other
five floors above the courtyard level? And isn’t the cost of a building where
all apartments open out to their own garden and communal courtyard going to be
too exorbitant to be practical?
How it’s created
The basic module in this layout comprises two double storey
apartments which occupy three floors, one placed on top of the other such that
access to both apartment units is on the courtyard level.
One unit is connected to another floor below the courtyard
level, and the other joined to another floor above the courtyard level.
Stacking two pairs of these interlocking apartments on top
of each other produces a three storey high courtyard.
However, stacking these apartments on top of each other such
that the courtyards flip from one side to the opposite side produces a six
storey high courtyard.
A cost efficient
solution
Courtyards in the sky are not new; 20 years ago renowned
architect Ken Yeang introduced the idea of “sky courts” in Menara Mesiniaga and
many architects have followed his lead in providing sky courts to apartment
buildings. However, not only are the sky courts expensive to construct but
sellable floor space have to be sacrificed to make way for them.
There is no such opportunity cost for the “Sky Neighbourhood”.
In fact, a substantial part of the courtyard can be allocated as private
gardens belonging to each of the apartments, increasing saleable area and
boosting revenue.
Then there are the cost savings. An analysis of a 30 storey design prototype of the “Sky
Neighbourhood” showed that the layout is exceedingly efficient.
Corridors are completely eliminated resulting in it having a
drastically lower percentage of circulation space compared with all other types
of apartment layout.
Fewer lifts are required because they need only stop every
three floors where the courtyards are located.
With all the apartments accessed from open well ventilated
courtyards, the danger from smoke in case of fire is much reduced, bringing
down the cost of fire protection.
These very important factors that increase revenue and
reduce costs ensure that the “Sky Neighbourhood” apartment would be less
expensive to build but generate more sales compared to apartments with conventional
sky courts. But how does this new concept stack up against the ordinary type of
apartments?
Comparing the cost of a conventional apartment building and
a “Sky Neighbourhood” apartment with an equivalent number and size of units,
the latter is probably still more expensive. However, it is not if we take
higher density into account.
| Type of Apartment Access | % circulation and services on each access floor for typical example |
| Single loading corridor, slab block | 21.06% |
| Double loading corridor , slab block | 16.03% |
| Central lobby, tower block | 11.90% |
| Neighbourhoods in the Sky concept example | 5.10% |
One of the main reasons for limiting the amount of units
that can be built on any piece of land is the problem of overcrowding. Building
higher and denser buildings people who are strangers to each other can
contribute to social problems.
High density housing with large outdoor courtyards in front of each apartment, and a private outdoor garden in the front yard for all residents
The “Sky Neighbourhood” can be seen as a cost effective way
to humanize high rise housing by creating pleasant landscaped courtyards right
in front of each apartment.
It can be argued that with this concept, taller buildings
and higher densities can be tolerated than would otherwise be contemplated.
| 30 STOREY DESIGN PROTOTYPE | |
| Plot ratio | 4.9 |
| Density | 163 units/acre |
| Communal courtyard | 70% land area, 194.6 sf per unit |
| Communal courtyard and private front yard garden | 107% land area |
Even a small 10% increase in number of units allowed on a
piece of land will result in savings that outstrips the additional construction
cost that is incurred by the “Sky Neighbourhood” apartment compared to a
conventional apartment building.
This is unsurprising because the very reason for high rise
housing is the increasing price of land.
Published in "Building & Investment", August 2013 Issue, Malaysia, pp 30-32
Article by Mazlin Ghazali
