ZONE

An interview with Ar.

Chong Chee Keong
The Boutique Hotel and KPJ hospita
Sungai Penchala

ARCHITECT
June 2015

CONTENT
PAGE 1
The ZONE Architect
1-2

PAGE 5

Introduction to Ar.
Chong Chee Keong
3-4
2 Projects involved
5-6
Roles and
Responsibilities
7-8

THE ZONE ARCHITECT

Background & History

ZONE Architect is an
international
architecture
and
design consultancy
firm that has been
established for 27
years, since 1989.
Their headquarter is
located
at
Jalan
Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Besides
that, they also have
other branches at
Ipoh, Johor Bahru

They
have
successfully delivered
projects
that
are
worth more than RM3
billion
and
have
undertake projects in
Australia,
China,
Cambodia, Indonesia,
India, Malaysia and
the
United
Arab
Emirates
(UAE).
Currently their office
in Abu Dhabi has
carried out projects in
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras
Al Khaimah, Ajman as

Company Structure
Principal and Associate
Directors

Mid-Level Management
Team

Design

Constructio
n

Manageme
nt

Marketing

Contracts

Our team is made up of 50 personnel at KL HQ, who

are all rigorously selected and trained to perform at
peak level. We ensure the team members are part of a
continuous training and development program to keep
up with the latest building techniques. At Myanmar,
the branches are in charge by others SOC, which have
around 10 personnel while the Abu Dhabi branch is in
collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur HQ.

INTRODUCTION

to Ar. Chong Chee Keong

Ar. CHONG CHEE
KEONG, Project
Director

Ar. Chong Chee Kong has 13 years of

professional experience after graduating from
University Malaya, including his 2 years in
ZONE and has gained strong analytical skills
in problem identification and implementation
of effective solutions.Besides, he is well
versed in most aspects of housing and
commercial developments; and building
regulation in Malaysia. He strives for
continued excellence and advancement, and
Q1: What
is your
biggest
always
presents
himself
in a professional
challenge as an architect ?
manner.

To interpret the brief and make it workable in the

industry. Convince client on the design concept.
Also, meet up the
budget with less risky ideas. Dealing with the
contractors (convince them that the design works).
But mainly, dealing with the authority because after
submitting and being compliant, more requirements
are needed as if the authority is the client and the
inability to offend them is a headache.

Q2. How do you

.
describe
your
university life as
an
architecture
student?
Try to participate and
meet more people
outside of the course
instead of the same
people in it because
there is no end in
architecture if you
just keep perfecting
your work causing
you
to
be
less
sociable.

Q4.How important
is your university
education to your
career now?
University was a
time to explore
concepts and is less
serious compared to
actual work .

Q3.
Is
becoming
an
architect your Architecture
first ambition ? is actually very
STPM did not prepare
me for my ambition so
I was just focusing on
getting good grades.
After that, architecture
seemed great because
I was qualified and
thought it was fun and
did not need to study
much. Initially, I also
thought
that
my
drawing was good.

funny , you
never have an
end to the
projects.

- Ar. Chong Chee Kong

BOUTIQUE HOTEL , Kuala Lumpur

By Ar. Chong Chee Keong

Throughout his 12 years of experience as a project

architect, Ar. Chong Chee Keong has worked from
preparing schematic design, developing design,
preparing tender to managing and administering
building contract. Among the projects he has
handled, he stated that the challenging ones are the
proposed private medical center for KPJ Hospital in
Sungai Penchala and proposed 3-star hotel, Boutique
Hotel at Jalan Yap Ah Shak, Kuala Lumpur.

Regarding the Boutique Hotel, Ar. Chong was in

charge of the preliminary plan. When the
preliminary plan was almost completed, and he was
waiting for the submission and approval. He had
done the tender drawings already and he was
ensuring whether it was constructible. Ar. Chong
said that when they wanted to call upon the calling
tender, the client wanted them to redesign it, saying
that they wanted a different typology. He then had
to redesign the whole concept by starting from the
sketching process.

Private Medical Center for

KPJ Hospital , Sungai Penchala
Proposed by Ar. Chong Chee Keong

For the hospital project, when he was

involved in it, it already has a preliminary
layout. After the hospital operator came in,
he and his team have to redesign the whole
structure. The layout has to be approved by
3 parties. Not only the layout, they also need
to emphasise the cost and deal with the
Quantity Surveyor. After finalising the layout,
they have to complete the KN submission.
Right now he is waiting for the clients
instructions as they are still negotiating the
cost.

ROLES &
RESPONSIBILITIES

Of Ar. Chong Chee Keong for the pass 12 years

Ar. Chong designs a tender

drawing
that
is
constructible starting from
a sketch. When the client
wants a design of a
building, they will brief him
first on what they want.
Then, the he has to
investigate the site and
then designs according to
the regulations and laws of
planning requirements. He
has to communicate with
the council to update them
on the design information.

After the first design,

he will then have to
present it. If the design
is accepted, he can
then
proceed.
However,
before
construction starts, the
design has to be sent
to a quantity surveyor
to calculate the total
construction
costs.
After that, the plan and
elevation has to be
sent to a planner.
Finally, the

BEFORE
CONSTRUCTION

whole thing will be

sent to the KM. Also,
he has to choose the
materials
for
the
building construction
as well. If the client is
not confident with
the materials chosen,
a discussion will be
held and a proposal
will then be sent to
the suppliers.

Hehastogothroughthecontract
and ask the contractor to submit
all the compliance materials. A
samplemodelalsohastobemade
forreference.Then, he will be
involved in site visits and
meetings, overseeing the
construction and signing
off on various pieces of
work.
He
will
be
negotiating
with
contractors and dealing
with and resolving any
Hs job does not end directly after
problems that arise.
thecompletionofconstruction.He
hastorevisitthesitetoobservethe
views and know the location of
accessandtheslope.Healsoneed
to assess the condition of the
buildingtoensurethatitisingood
condition. His work continues
until after the building
work. Part of the payment
due to the builder the
retention is held back for
up to twelve months and is
only paid out on the
architects instruction, after
any defects have been
rectified by the contractor.
Remember
that
the
architects
Opinion
on
Compliance with Planning
and Building Regulations is

DURING
CONSTRUCTION

AFTER
CONSTRUCTION
8

ABOUT US

Group Leader :ShumLiSze

Group Members :1.TanJiaSan
2.NgJiYann
3.PharesPhung
4.OngVonWan
5.NguXianLe
Tutor :
9Mokhtar

Pn.Hasmanirah

FNBE
MARCH INTAKE