Professional Documents
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Introduction
Figure 2 Figure 1
Instead of detached single family homes around Our aim is to recreate the best elements of
the cul-de-sac, we can divide the buildings into kampong and small-town life: where children can
two or three houses such that each home faces play outside our homes with friends without fear
a different cul-de-sac (3). We can also slice up from crime and traffic, in a community where people
the buildings into four or six so that a pair of know and talk to each other. We are trying to create
houses faces each cul-de-sac. As we partition a more suitable environment for the “kampong boy
each building into more units, we are reducing of the future” – something better than our existing
the size of each unit, increasing the number terrace houses. And honeycomb housing can
density of the development, but take note that deliver all the benefits of the cul-de-sac housing
we are not reducing the quality of the external environment, but with the cost advantages of the
environment found in the cul-de-sac. densely packed terrace housing.
Figure 3
Low Cost Housing
Existing housing for the low and middle income
group in Malaysia suffers from various defects.
Studies done by UPM at a housing estate with
single storey houses has shown that three major
complains from the consumers are that the houses
are too hot, kitchens are too small and roof leaks.
Safety is another problem. A national survey
undertaken by IKMAS and NST last year showed
that the main concern of Malaysian citizens is crime
(4). Another aspect is the safety against traffic: the
straight roads found in terrace housing are too
hazardous for small children (5).
Figure 5 Figure 4
Not only is the inside of the house hot, but the external
environment too is getting hotter and hotter. Records
show that Kuala Lumpur has grown hotter by 0.6o Problem: ‘Heat Island Effect’
centigrade per decade, faster than other cities in the Many cities are getting hotter
world due to the hot island effect (6,7). This in by 0.10C to 0.60C per decade
undoubtedly due to the transformation of the natural
Baltimore USA 0.10C per decade
environment to become a concrete jungle. Despite the
Shanghai China 0.1
attempts at tree planting and landscaping, the typical
Oakland USA 0.2
suburban housing estate is an ecological desert, where Tokyo Japan 0.3
crows and mosquitoes seem to be the only wildlife that Los Angeles USA 0.4
thrive. Kuala Lumpur 0.6
Conclusion: KL holds the world record !
Figure 7
Figure 6
EXISTING LOW COST APPROACH
NEEDS REVIEW
So not only is the straight line terrace houses aesthetically The auction notices in the daily papers illustrate another
boring (8), they don’t function very well, they become social problem: many low-cost houses don’t seem to appreciate in
and environmental slums. value. For example, the reserve prices of three properties
shown in the New Straits Times (4th August 2005) were
Developers subsidize low-cost housing, yet many go
RM 26,000, RM 35,000 and RM 42,000. The servicing of
unsold. An anonymous developer laments “the Government
interest on assets that do not appreciate in value is not a
is forcing us to build low-cost house which people don’t
privilege: it is a financial burden.
want to buy”. The government also builds low-cost housing
and sells them at a loss, but these houses are unloved. Housing policy involves many facets; the physical planning
Squatter kampongs usually fly proudly the BN or UMNO of the homes is only one of the factors that contribute
flags before resettlement. Where are they on the new flats? towards a good policy. However, it is a key issue; certainly
bad design creates bad housing.
Figure 8
Figure 8
ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL
PLANNING
Developers, planners and architects have come up
with several alternatives to the drawbacks of linear
planning. In trying to improve the monotony of
housing in rows, planners have devised various
strategies:
Strata-title development
Groups of houses share ownership of the
communal facilities allowing greater freedom in
designing the access route and common facilities
allowing high densities. The Desa Park Homes
development (9)is an example of this type of Figure 9
approach. It is able to achieve densities as good
conventional terrace house layouts. However,
strata- titles are considered not as valuable as land
titles.
Organic Layouts
Following the trend from more developed countries,
local planners have devised ‘organic’ layouts where
winding roads and occasional cul-de-sacs break the
boredom of the rectilinear grid, but density is
sacrificed. A Guthrie development at Bukit Jelutong
(10)is an example of this trend. However, the
houses there cost RM500,000 or more.
Figure 10
Clustered Layouts
Similarly, the cluster approach can produce interesting What most of these efforts require is additional resources.
outcomes but, in most cases, loses out on efficiency. The More land, more infrastructure, more money and you will
circular clustering of houses at Brondby near Copenhagen have a better environment. The honeycomb concept can
in Denmark (11) shows a wide expanse of green area help improve the design of housing but without necessarily
between the clusters. having to spend more.
New Urbanism
From America comes a new trend against suburban sprawl.
The Neo-Traditional Development (12) seeks to rediscover
the vitality found in small towns by re-introducing the
rectilinear grid, often overlaid with diagonal streets to link
focal points.
Figure 11 Figure 12
TESSELLATION PLANNING
In mathematics, to tessellate means to cover a plane with Looking at the example shown (13), we may think it a difficult
a pattern without having any gap or overlap. For centuries task to lay the multiple shapes of tiles. The nine pointed star,
artists and craftsmen have used tessellation as a tool to the four pointed, the spear head, the leaf like, etc. But in fact
create visual effects on surfaces. Tiling is the most the seemingly complex pattern is built up simply by tiling a
common form of tessellation, and in its simplest form the single basic square pattern. In tessellation planning this
tiles are regular polygons. The Muslim craftsmen in Spain creative power is applied to town planning, where the colours
in the 15th century created beautifully complex visual are not merely decorative but represent functional space.
effects by tessellating a small basic tile pattern. Intricate
and complex designs can be built up from basic tile
patterns in a simple way by this process.
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 17
CREATING COMMUNITIES Figure 18
Shared streets
In honeycomb housing the network of roads comprises
looping cul-de-sacs and short connecting roads leading
to distributor roads (18). This pattern slows down traffic
naturally, rendering it safe for pedestrians and children
playing, giving the cul-de-sac the air and feeling of a
“shared street” (19). The short connecting roads with no
access to houses provides space for visitors’ parking.
Figure 21
IN HARMONY WITH NATURE
Contour housing
Building long rows of terrace houses cheaply requires hills to
be cut and streams to be filled. Honeycomb housing units
have compact footprints that allow more level changes to be
placed between the blocks (23). In this respect their shape is
very much like big detached houses, and it is evident from
existing townships that the typical developer flattens large
expanses of land for his terrace houses, but lets the
bungalows go up and down to better suit the original
contours.
Biodiversity
The islands of big trees together with smaller trees and
shrubs around the homes can become microhabitats for small
animals, birds and insects. Suitable species of introduced
butterflies, birds and small mammals will gradually adopt
these as their natural home and thus increase biological
diversity. Figure 24
A NEW GENERATION OF HOME
DESIGNS
Tessellation Planning, without incurring any cost penalty,
allows new townships to break free from the mental grid-
lock that produces rigid rows of housing. To most
architects, designing yet another terrace house is a
boring chore. Honeycomb housing represents a new and
refreshing challenge for architects. It leads to new
generic house-types. These new forms give architects
more room for creativity.
DUPLEX
Figure 30
DUPLEX
TRIPLEX
1
2
1 3
QUADRUPLEX 2 4
Figure 33
QUADRUPLEX Figure 34
SEXTUPLEX
USING LAND MORE EFFICIENTLY
A honeycomb neighbourhood comprising 5 units of It is more efficient because the total area of roads have been
quadruplexes and duplexes is compared with a terrace reduced: in the 5 unit comparison the area of road reserve is
house arrangement of an equivalent 5 units. We then reduced from 41% 0f the total area to only 26%; consequently,
compared a honeycomb neighbourhood comprising 16 because the green area is maintained at 7%, the saleable
units of quadruplexes and duplexes against a terrace house land is increased from 52% to 67%. In the 16 unit case,
house arrangement of an equivalent 16 units (35). It is the road area of the honeycomb layout is 23% compared to
demonstrated in the table below (36) that the honeycomb 35% for the terrace layout; the house land is 70%, up from
layout is more land-use efficient. 58%
Table 36 Figure 35
5 UNIT
HONEYCOMB HOUSE TERRACE HOUSE
(SM) (%) (SM) (%)
ROAD 334 26 611 41
GREEN 93 7 103 7
HOUSE 861 67 761 52
TOTAL 1288 100 1475 100
16 UNIT
HONEYCOMB HOUSE TERRACE HOUSE
(SM) (%) (SM) (%)
ROAD 879 23 1323 35
GREEN 264 7 269 7
HOUSE 2721 70 2190 58
TOTAL 3864 100 3782 100
We next looked at comparing two theoretical sites. An efficient
layout of terrace houses on an island site is compared with an
equivalent honeycomb alternative. Here again, the honeycomb
alternative produces less roads and more residential land (37-
39). In this example, the public green area and density (units
per acre) are kept the same; consequently, the average lot
sizes are 30% larger.
.
Table 39
Terrace
Road 47% 33%
Saleable land 44% 58%
Green area 9% 9%
Number of units 15 units 15 units
per acre
Average lot size 1261 sf 1658 sf
30% larger! Figure 38 HONEYCOMB HOUSING
We have done several comparative studies to illustrate
how honeycomb layouts are more efficient than
conventional rectilinear grid layouts. We have done
several comparative studies to illustrate how
honeycomb layouts are more efficient than conventional
rectilinear grid layouts. The study of alternative layouts
at Demak Laut, Kuching (40-41) is one example.
Table 42
It is possible to build a mathematical model where
distances and areas of a sextuplex honeycomb
layout and an equivalent terrace layout are
expressed in terms of variables x, y, and so on.
Using Pythagoras Theorem and the Solution to
Quadratic Equations, a spreadsheet model of the
two alternatives is built up. We are interested in
land-use efficiency, which is the ratio of sellable
land to total land, and in density which is the
number of units per acre. Both these output
variables are made to relate to buildable footprint,
which is the net land area in a house lot that can be
built, taking into account the building setback
requirements. This mathematical model shows that,
within the range of practical limits, the sextuplex
honeycomb form of housing is more land-use
efficient and can provide more units per acre than Figure 43 HONEYCOMB HOUSING
the terrace (43-46).
Figure 44 TERRACE HOUSING
Graph 45 Graph 46
APARTMENTS
Tessellation planning can also be applied to the design of apartments.
For an alternative to the 5-storey walk-up flats, instead of long parallel
slabs of block apartments, we have compact point blocks arranged in a
hexagonal cluster so that a communal courtyard is created in the centre
of the blocks. In addition, on every floor, the units are not strung out
along a corridor, but instead, circle around a lobby area. The long
narrow corridor is suitable only as a circulation space, but a hexagonal
lobby having the same area can be a communal area. In the design
shown(47), there is a small playground equipment placed in the centre; it
could be an indoor garden or fountain instead. The apartments are
designed to have windows facing the lobby, subjecting it to natural
surveillance, and thus avoiding the public security problem of “blind”
corridors which attract vandalism.
Figure 47
Figure 48 Figure 49
The design of the apartment in a hexagonal block need not be
problematic. Though it is more difficult to handle for those who
are so used to the rectilinear grid, it can produce efficient yet
pleasant results. The example shows a 850 square feet
apartment. There is a main entrance into the dining and living
room. There is also a second entrance through the drying
yard, into the spacious kitchen. All the service areas, kitchen,
bathrooms and drying yard are grouped together for easy
plumbing; the 3 bedrooms are accessed from a semi-private
family area. The dining and living open out into a balcony with
wide sliding doors.
Figure 51
Figure 52
Table 42