Internship Report

Premdyl SIngh Shadan • 0321979 • Arkitek LLA
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

(SABD)
ARC 2615 INTERNSHIP TRAINING AND REPORT
INTERNSHIP REPORT
NAME: PREMDYL SINGH SHADAN

ID: 0321979
TUTOR: MR. KETIH
COMPANY: ARKITEK LLA, PULAU PINANG
INTERNSHIP DURATION: 2 JANUARY 2018 - 9 MARCH 2018 
Internship Report 1
CONTENT PAGE NO.
1.0 Acknowledgement 3
2.0 Introduction 4
3.0 3.1 Wawasan Open University 5
3.2 Old Xaverian Association 12
3.3 Shop-lots, Plot 3 14
3.4 Penang Hill 16
3.5 88, Armenian Street 17
3.6 UAB Building 18
3.7 One Gurney 20
4.0 Log Sheets 24
5.0 Proof of Report Approval 31
6.0 Testimonial Letter 32
Internship Report 2
1.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
With much gratitude I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Arkitek LLA for not only giving me
the opportunity for interning at their office, however for making me feel like one of their own. I
would like to thank my directors Ar. Laurence Loh and Ar. Ong Jin Cheng, who nurtured and cared
about me during my time at Arkitek LLA. All their advise is deeply appreciated and would always be
cherished.
I would also like to thank my supervisor, Foo E Leen for guiding and teaching me the practises and
roles that a future architect would need to follow. Advise like that can’t be found in a lecture hall.
I also would like to thank my fellow colleagues and interns for helping me out in familiarising with
the work environment. The office is never dull and no two days are the same.
To my clients mentioned in this report, thank you being patient with me but most of all thank you for
never doubting a new recruit such as myself. That boosted my confidence knowing that my clients
came out happy during this process.
Finally, thank you to my tutor, Mr. Keith, who came to Penang specifically to make sure that we, as
new interns, were not going through hardship. Thank you for waiting for me to come back from my
client’s meeting before leaving. That is truly appreciated.
My internship at Arkitek LLA is a

big opportunity and an even
bigger milestone that I’m happy I
didn't miss. I sincerely hope that
there would be a chance for me
to be part of the team in the
future as it was an unforgettable
experience.
Internship Report 3
2.0 INTRODUCTION
Laurence Loh Arkitek, now known as Arkitek LLA, was founded in Penang during the year of 1983.
The practise has immersed itself in various projects ranging in design of architecture, urban
planning, interior design, landscaping and in conservation authenticity. Arkitek LLA has made its
mark on Penang and has touch numerous building in their own distinct way.
Their involvement in many public, private and commercial projects has experienced Arkitek LLA to
tackle any kind of project such as housing, offices, factories, schools, resorts, hotels, country clubs
and civic buildings. Not only does Arkitek LLA design from scratch, however the company also tend
to dive their hands in at renovation and upgrading work. Arkitek LLA’s approach is simple yet long-
lasting- to create architecture that is specific to the local context, culture and environment.
There were in total 7 projects that I was involved in which are in the fields of educational,
residential and commercial. The projects vary in scale and comprises of different building
typologies, exterior or landscaping work and interior work. The range of works done gave me an
insight of how different projects run and the challenges faced by an architect on a day to day basis.
Internship Report 4
3.1 WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY
For this project, Arkitek LLA was working in collaboration with Wawasan Open University and
Paper & Toast for an event that was going to be held over the course of a week. The event,
CUAsia, promotes open co-working spaces which Wawasan would like to implement in their
educational facilities. Arkitek LLA was involved to figure the integration of these ideologies of open
co-working spaces with the existing facilities that Wawasan has to offer.
The campus of WOU consists of two parts; Homestead and the

Albukhary tower. Homestead is a heritage building that was used
as the residence of Yap Chor Ee, a very well known tycoon in
Penang. The building is now owned by our client Dato Seri’ Steven
Yap, the last resident of the Yap Chor Ee building and descendent
of Yap Chor Ee.
During our first meeting on site with Paper & Toast (Abby and Pat Teoh) and Dato Seri’ Steven Yap,
certain issues were highlighted that Wawasan was facing such as, the lack of usage of Homestead
due to its ‘exclusive’ access that can only be used by Deans, CEOs and the Chancellors. Dato
Seri’ Steven Yap highlighted that students are prohibited into Homestead and that he would like to
change this. In conclusion, all parties decided that a pop up exhibition was the best solution for
this. The exhibition would highlight the transformation of Homestead whilst integrating a co-working
space that the participants of CUAsia could use during the one week conference. The exhibition
would pro-long after the event and would also act as a social experiment for the students of
Wawasan.
After our meeting on site, the LLA team, which included Xin Yan, Xin Dean, Brian, Alice, Daniel and
I, had our first discussion and came up with aims that we thought were appropriate to address the
issues that Wawasan were currently facing. The aims are as follows:
1. Target on the younger generation

2. Tropicalised / biophilic design
3. Transition of space, combining the next building atmosphere and blends in- integrate key
features of Wawasan, seaside and nature settings
4. Create an incubator in Penang
5. Create something close to the original use
6. Cultural significant
Internship Report 5
With the aims in mind, we went to the design stage. Below is the first design proposal that was
discussed between colleagues in the office. The design contained elements that were used in the
final such as a movable pantry that acts as a watering hole, playing with scaffolding, visual
attachment, breaking barriers, de-securitized, etc. Their feed back was very insightful and helped
us fulfil the following the designs.
With the advise given by my colleagues, we proceeded to do more sketches that we thought could
incorporate the benefits of our first design while trying to make it better. Laurence agreed to this
design concept and we proceeded to present it to Paper & Toast. The design was very non-
conformist as we broke the grid that WOU and tried our best to make it more youthful and dynamic.
Internship Report 6
After the presentation with Paper & Toast, we needed to refine the design as certain aspects were
not appealing to them, for example there were to many casual areas in ratio to formal working
spaces. With this in mind, the next design was to appeal and attract all demographics which
included the students, the visitors and the working class. Another presentation was held the week
after and it was finalised and approved by both Paper & Toast and Dato Seri’ Steven Yap. The
design is attached below showing the overall plan that would take place during the CUAsia
conference and the aftermath for the student social experiment
Internship Report 7
With the given approval from all parties, we proceeded by sourcing for furniture, wooden pallets
(that make up the elevated platform), plants, cloth and scaffolding. With no budget given to this
pop-up exhibition, it was a definite challenge. The scaffolding was sourced by a contractor that
works closely on other projects by Arkitek LLA. He allowed us to borrow it for a week for the
conference. The wooden pallets used are recycled and are sourced from a hospital that was
planning to throw them out. Also, plants were provided by Wawasan. As for furniture, all parties
contributed certain number of furniture items to make the event work for example Arkitek LLA
contributed stools, Paper & Toast contributed a table set whilst Wawasan provided the rest. The
last issue was cloth and with permission we were given an increased budget of RM1000.00. This
had really helped as additional, good quality supplies could be bought to make the co-working
spaces work, safe and comfortable for the future users.
The set-up of the spaces were done within three days which included delivery of all furniture items,
set-up of the scaffolding, cleaning of the wooden pallets, reshuffling and moving of furniture and
placement of potted plants all around the spaces. A total of RM500.00 was spent for the exhibition
which is a 50% cost save. Also, all the clients which included Paper & Toast, Dato Seri’ Steven Yap
and Tan Sri’ Koh Soo Khoon, former Chief Minister of Penang, were excited with transformation
that had occurred.
Below are pictures to show the transformation of the spaces in Wawasan:
Before and After of the Corridor

Internship Report 8
Before and After of the Lounge
Before and After of the Galleria Space
Before and After of the Reception
Internship Report 9
Below are pictures to show the spaces in Wawasan being used during the conference:
Internship Report 10
Overall this project gave me an insight into the process that a practising architect would have to go
through. Though this project was on a smaller scale, I feel that this project can easily be related
and reflected to other upcoming project which may be on a bigger scale. Some things I learnt in the
intensive four weeks are:
1. How to present and communicate ideas to clients.

2. How to refine the design according to clients needs and wants.
3. Sourcing and arranging with suppliers.
4. How to work with a budget constraint.
5. To be able to think on your feet at all times- solve problems that may arise unexpectedly for
example the pallets were originally meant to be used as flooring but due to the big gaps it had,
the furniture provided wasn't able to perform smoothly. We readapted the use to create barriers
and platforms for plants to stand on between spaces instead.
6. Adapt to site precaution and conditions.
7. Time is off the essence- no delaying and postponing.
3.2 OLD XAVERIAN ASSOCIATION
Next, I assisted another colleague of mine, Linda, in a project for the Old Xaverian Association.
Located in a heritage building on Jalan Perak, the two storey building is home to 30 elderly folk
whilst simultaneously being a centre for the Xaverian’s Association. The clients approached us with
the intention to upgrading works as well as introducing a more youthful approach to the building.
The design concept of the new and improved OXA is to try and introduce the younger generations
to participate and revitalise the current state of the building.
Linda assigned me to design new amenities to the OXA which include a restaurant, an alfresco
area, a bar and a kitchen. These amenities were supposed to appeal to the youth of today as well
as hold a capacity of about 100 pax.
After I confirmed the design of the amenities, Linda assigned me to compile and create diagrams
for the presentation that Laurence would present that week itself. Using Photoshop and
Powerpoint, I created diagrams that were easy for lay-man to understand as well as create a
design concept that was a suitable for the wants and needs of the client.
Below are images of selected slides that were presented to OXA:
3.3 SHOP-LOTS, PLOT 3
On top of that, I assisted a colleague of mine, Sean, to amend the facade of a row of shop-lots
located in Plot 3, Batu Kawan, Seberang Jaya. The shop-lots were designed to accommodate to
six individual differently sized lots, however due to budget constrains, the custom sizing of glass
panels were not accommodating. To overcome this issue, I was assigned to alter the arrangement
of the panels with a standard size of 1200mm. The standard sizing of panels decreased costs
compared to sizes that were not ready in stock for example 1680mm, 1558mm, etc.
To accommodate to the 1200mm glass panels, I had to increase certain wall lengths to be able to
create seamless transitions form one shop lot to the other. During my redesigning stage, I had to
be fully aware of the positions of the doors and signages, so that the columns located in the front of
the facade do not compromise the overall aesthetic and circulation that the original shop-lots had
intended on.
After my design finalisation with Sean, I then pursued to prepare for the presentation of the shop-
lots. Using AutoCAD and Powerpoint, I created diagrams that showed the change of glass panels,
the additional nib-walls and the overall view of the shop-lots. Besides that, I also was urged to
communicate the idea intentions of the shop-lots in 3D visuals. To create the 3D visuals, I created
a Revit model of the shop lots which were then tweaked and edited using Photoshop.
3.4 PENANG HILL
Besides designing spaces and preparing for presentation slides, a few other interns and I were
assigned to experiment with cables for the Penang Hill renovation. Ar. Ong Jin Cheng, partner in
Arkitek LLA, briefed us explaining the intentions of the usage of cables in his design. His worry was
that the natural characteristics of the cables would not allow such flexibility that the design needed,
therefore requesting us interns to do certain experiments on it to test out its minimum and
maximum abilities.
The cables used for this design and experiment, were the original cables that pulled the old trains
up the Penang Hill. With its historical value and Arkitek LLA’s mission to not create a lot of
construction waste, Jin Cheng intended the cables to act as a boundary line around the sculpture
which will be placed in the concourse area of the Penang Hill station. The rare sight and usage of
old cables adds an ephemeral quality to the station whilst being an opportunity for us interns to
learn about a new material that has never come across in our minds.
The interns gathered and conducted the experiment in the lab. We intended to find out the width
needed to hold up the cables without it sagging. We had tried gaps of 1000mm, 1500mm, 2000mm
and 2500mm, concluding that the 1500mm gaps were the optimum for the least sagging and the
best flexibility. This mini-assignment thought me that sometimes a designer needs to be a bit more
hands-on when creating designs so we can be fully analytical and understanding to our designs.
3.5 88, ARMENIAN
Another hands-on experience of mine in Arkitek LLA was on at a site located on 88, Armenian
Street. Armenian Street is a narrow street within the city of George Town in Penang. Located within
the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site, the street has gained popularity in recent years for its rich
cultural offerings and street art. From its rising popularity, the demand of boutique hotels and bed &
breakfasts have increased drastically creating a new function for old shophouses.
For this project, Arkitek LLA is involved to restore a shophouse and to readapt its usage to become
a boutique hotel. I was asked to help a colleague of mine, Kah Lun, to go on site and remeasure
certain elements that were misaligned. The clumsy restoration that was previously done by an
engineer created problems such as: 
1. different thicknesses of walls.

2. shifting of the airwell due to age.
3. unnecessary additions of beams to various areas.
With this in mind we had to try our best to get as accurate of dimensions that we could, so that the
plans were as accurate as possible. The accuracy of the plans were important as the final
drawings were being passed on to third parties that were involved, for example contractors and
interior designers.
3.6 UAB BUILDING
Besides that, I assisted another colleague of mine, Safuan, to prepare presentation boards for the
PAM competition. Arkitek LLA was nominated to present the new UAB Building under the topic of
adaptive reuse. The new UAB building was originally the Indian Overseas Bank and later the
United Asian Bank until the 1980’s. Prior to its vacant condition, it also housed the Penang Premier
Press.
This adaptive reuse project aimed to transform the building and its spaces to reflect a design
philosophy that is liberating and life-enhancing. It was designed in a contemporary approach whilst
maintaining a strict conduct in preserving the essence of the building’s heritage value. The new
UAB Building then obtained a LEED Gold certification for its green efforts. I learnt through research
for the boards, that the innovation that Arkitek LLA is of international standards and reached new
heights. With the challenges the company faced of strict heritage laws and requirements, they
were still able to create 21st century spaces in a 19th century building. The usage of natural
resources such as a sustainable site, daylight, sunlight, plants and ventilation adds more depth in a
space through biophilic means.
Using Photoshop, I created several layouts and drafts that highlighted the spaces, the community
usage and the requirements that were fulfilled to obtain the LEED certification. I also used
Photoshop to create more dramatic photos by retouching them in saturation and even at times,
combining two photos to create a more appropriate and impactful picture of the UAB building.
3.7 ONE GURNEY
Finally, during my 10 week internship period at Arkitek LLA, I was assigned to continuously work on
a private residence condominium located on Gurney Drive. The owners (names will not be
disclosed due to privacy regulations) are a family of 5, who consist of a couple, two daughters and
a grandmother. The condominium unit compromises of two floors. Located on the ground floor is a
living/ dining room hybrid, kitchen, foyer, grandmother’s room with attached bathroom, powder
room, a helper’s room with attached bathroom and laundry area. Located on the second floor is a
master bedroom with attached bathroom and walk-in closet, daughter’s room with a chill-out
space, studio room that can be converted into a guest room for the second daughter and a
bathroom for sharing. The renovation is budgeted to aim at RM1,000,000. The clients are
renovating the apartment due to several reasons:
1. to future-proof the apartment for the grandmother whom currently uses a walking stick,
however clients suspect that in the future she may need to use a wheelchair.
2. to store personal items as clients are extensive collectors.
3. to provide appropriate displays for wine bottles as husband is a wine collector and enthusiast.
4. to upgrade spaces fit enough for more modern times.
5. to extensively use timber.
During my 10 week internship period I was able to re-design the whole two floors excluding the
master bedroom with attached walk-in closet and bathroom because it had already been re-
designed by a previous intern. Overall I learnt that in interior designing, dimensions and details are
key to a good and well-thought out space.
Grandmother’s bedroom and attached bathroom- This was the first room I had designed which I
think was the most challenging for me. I had to think of the client that had walking difficulties
therefore really looking into the details for example, guide rails and panic buttons located
throughout the room. The room had to also be easily convertible into a room fit for wheelchair
access.
Kitchen- As for the kitchen, I learnt about the ‘kitchen triangle’ which are made up of three
components- prep and wash, cooking and storage. The triangle really helped in developing my
design as it allowed me to explore options of how a kitchen should and can be operated. The
kitchen required to be closed due to heavy-duty asian cooking which tends to smell the whole
condo. With this in mind, I had to design a space that was convertible for entertaining as well as
efficient when cooking. I also had to accommodate to the various types of cooking that was
involved for example stir-fry, baking, etc. The design needed to cater to the daughter’s baking
hobby as well as making the kitchen accessible for the grandmother.
Daughter’s Bedroom, Chill Out Space and Studio/ Second Daughter’s Bedroom- These three
spaces were the most fun to design as the clients were more relatable to me. The three spaces are
designed to compliment one another which means that each space can be used separately if
privacy is needed or can be used as one whole space if both sister’s intend to have some ‘girl
bonding time’ with each other. The chill out space consists of a wardrobe to be used by the studio,
a platform with storage underneath and tatami mats, beanbags and a table for study usage. The
studio itself on the other hand, is also multifunctional. When there are no guests, the studio
transforms itself into a work space, however if there are guests, the bed can fold down and creates
a room designed just like a normal bedroom.
Other spaces that were designed include the helper’s room. The helper’s bedroom is designed to
accommodate two maids therefore introducing a bigger centre space that can be used for praying,
ironing and various other activities.
4.0 LOGSHEETS






5.0 PROOF OF REPORT APPROVAL
6.0 TESTIMONIAL LETTER
The testimonial letter will be accessible to me only at the end of my internship period which ends
on the 9th of March 2018. This part of the report will be updated accordingly once the document
has been signed and given to me.

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Premdyl SIngh Shadan • 0321979 • Arkitek LLA

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

NAME: PREMDYL SINGH SHADAN

CONTENT PAGE NO.

3.0 3.1 Wawasan Open University 5

3.2 Old Xaverian Association 12

3.3 Shop-lots, Plot 3 14

3.4 Penang Hill 16

3.5 88, Armenian Street 17

3.6 UAB Building 18

3.7 One Gurney 20

4.0 Log Sheets 24

5.0 Proof of Report Approval 31

6.0 Testimonial Letter 32

My internship at Arkitek LLA is a

3.1 WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY

The campus of WOU consists of two parts; Homestead and the

1. Target on the younger generation

Below are pictures to show the transformation of the spaces in Wawasan:

Before and After of the Corridor

Before and After of the Lounge

Before and After of the Galleria Space

Before and After of the Reception

1. How to present and communicate ideas to clients.

3.2 OLD XAVERIAN ASSOCIATION

Below are images of selected slides that were presented to OXA:

3.3 SHOP-LOTS, PLOT 3

3.4 PENANG HILL

3.5 88, ARMENIAN

1. different thicknesses of walls.

3.6 UAB BUILDING

3.7 ONE GURNEY

5.0 PROOF OF REPORT APPROVAL

6.0 TESTIMONIAL LETTER

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