Projects

A R C H I T E C T D E S I G N G R O U P, S YA R I K AT P E M B E N A A N Y E O H T I O N G L AY S D N B H D

KLPAC Soul Place

REVIEWED BY AR NGIOM Since its opening a year ago, the Kuala Lumpur Performance Arts Centre (KLPAC) is becoming an emblem for those in need of constant emotional recharging. It gives meaning to many a life, to those who suspect that there must be more to occupy our time besides the everyday pursuit of ordinary existence. The KLPAC is after all, the distribution centre of emotional energy the kind of energy that gives us joy and enthusiasm, a place of innocence and the sustenance of it. It is an ideal manifested in real form. All interactive groups need its cultural icon, and this icon has a legendary beginning, one that is forged, in the beginning, by misfortune, and later by divine blessings. It began when the Actors Studio at Dataran Merdeka was ooded out of existence in a massive ood in Kuala Lumpur in June 2003, with great material loss as well as cultural loss, as even then, there was no other place like the Actors Studio, a theatre, wholly funded by private funds, plenty of love for the performance arts and sense of mission. It had taken a telephone call of conscience from the landscape architect of the Sentul West development, an otherwise unlikely meeting between a corporate icon and his men with the Actors Studio and the prompting of the then Deputy Prime Ministers wife to see an uncanny realisation of what was nothing more than mere hope. All the rest, from the setting of a budget, the magnanimity of a corporate giant, the presence of a magical setting, the singular sense of mission of all those subsequently involved usually exist only mythically. Like a breath of fresh air, an architect in a signicant corporation has produced a work of architecture which is soulful, which does not smell of money, that can be a great place to be.

Contextual plan

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1 The view from the lake to KLPAC provides a stunning reection of the building 2 Panaromic view of KLPACs 70,000 sq ft space located at the fringes of the lush Sentul Park 3 KLPACs drive-thru porch

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15m

left elevation

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15m

right elevation

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15m

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15m

front elevation

rear elevation

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36m

site plan

The architect is keen to emphasise that the building is an honest one, which is arrived at from the premise of functionality with materials and services that are expressed as part of the architecture. It is also intended that the public spaces are exible, where performances or exhibitions can be held anywhere, put up or dismantled at anytime. There would be no demarcation between performers and the public and, that spaces and people would behave interactively. The architect also emphasises on the attitude of humility which applies to the persona of the architecture, designers and users. The way that the building is transparent and sits comfortably in a minimalist landscape provides the sense of presentness, a phenomenological feeling as the building is approached or viewed from the grounds. The presentness is enhanced as the distinction between landscape and building is blurred, particularly

where the water feature spills in and out of the entrance lobby. A permeable, signature landscape wall denes the grounds of the architecture from the landscape areas but the denition is merely gestural like a brush-stroke something to look at, like a work of art. The lightness and permeability of space continues into the main stairs made out of just steel sections. As a building of adaptive re-use, the architecture appears successful because the new and the old parts of the building are distinctive and recognisable. The new exists side by side with the old without damaging what is precious. At the central areas, the new roof needs to be raised above the old one in order to make the theatre functional. In any case there appears to be a genuine attempt to respect the old. The eventual architecture is as tactile as could possibly be, with the preserved bricks and metal trusses kept as a reminder of what the old world once was.

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Location
Sentul Park Kuala Lumpur

Owner
Sentul Raya Sdn. Bhd.

Builder
Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn. Bhd.

Design Architect
Design Group, Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn. Bhd.

C&S Design Engineer

Design Group, Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd

M&E Engineer
Norman, Disney and Young

Landscape Architect
Seksan Design

Theatre Consultants
Theatre Sense Sdn Bhd

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4 5 6 7 8 Pathway leading to KLPACs porch Bridge connecting KLPAC to the beautifully landscaped Sentul Park Frontal view of the entrance to KLPAC Age-old trees surround KLPACs impressive structure Panaromic view of KLPACs 504-seat main theatre, Pentas 1

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