Travels: Mercure Hotel, Kuta Beach, Bali

The Mercure Hotel where I stayed during a recent trip to Bali (11th to 13th March 2011) is located just next door to Hard Rock Hotel in Kuta Beach, within walking distance to numerous shopping and dining places nearby. The swimming pool and dining facilities are located on the 4th floor roof terrace, leaving the ground floor space free for porte cochere, entrance lounge and registration office. The hotel is planned based on a courtyard configuration, a design strategy that works very well in providing light and ventilation to spaces within a constrained site, while creating a truly pleasant ambience important for marketing purposes.

My only criticism is that the rooms and balconies are rather small with barely enough space to move around the bed. Bathrooms and cabinets are quite meagre in size but are well planned to optimize nooks and corners. Nevertheless, the hotel should cater well to travellers on very short trips with most time spent outside, though during evenings, back at the hotel, one will appreciate the coziness of a well planned small room expected of a medium budget accommodation. The room size, I would expect, is based on requirements of room numbers for the business plan to be feasible given the constraints of site and height controls for structures not being allowed to exceed 4 storeys high.

Architecturally, in my opinion, the hotel captures the vital essence and character of Bali, which among others include; the strong ties and connection with nature, a blurred division between indoors and outdoors, the use of vivid colours and earth tones, decorations featuring the artifacts of Bali, and the extensive use of timber structures within a reinforced concrete structural framework, all of which give visitors a very welcome preview of the great things to expect in this paradise island on the hour of their arrival here.

Travels: The Art and Architecture of Bali

Entry gate with overhead decorated beam. A less typical type of gateway seen on the way to Ubud

The archetype entry gateway to a house, without overhead beam. This type of design is the most characteristic of Balinese gateways commonly found in homes and temples throughout Bali

Typical temple complex near Ubud

Temple structures, Ubud

View from the Mercure hotel, Kuta Beach

Stone work roadside work shop

Temple near Ubud

Crafts shop by the roadside on the way to Ubud

Beach decorations at Jimbaran Bay

These photographs were taken during my recent trip to Bali (11th to 13th March 2011). From the seafood restaurants and beach decorations at Jimbaran Bay, the crafts and sculptures of Ubud, the typical roadside houses, The Mercure Hotel (where I stayed), Hard Rock Cafe and the shopping areas in Kuta, Art and Architecture is a way of life in Bali. These exist everywhere and anywhere even in the smallest of structures and the most ordinary of families.

The religion of the Balinese people is Hinduism. The average Balinese is very religious in nature and this quality is apparent in their everyday activities and their structures, homes or market places. Temples are everywhere within a very short distance of one another. Tourism is the most important source of income and the entire country's socio economic activities are geared towards fulfilling the needs of tourists coming in from all over the world daily.

The photographs are of ordinary or of typical scenes or moments, as to capture the essence of everyday life in Bali. I've posted over 100 photographs on Jafri Merican Architect's Facebook page.

Travels: The Architecture of Ipoh, Perak.

During my trip to Ipoh today, I had the opportunity to take some photographs of some interesting old buildings. These include Arthur Benison Hubback's Ipoh Railway Station, shophouses and various buildings around Padang Bandaran Ipoh, in the heart of the administrative district. I've posted around 100 photographs on Jafri Merican Architect's facebook page. The photograph at the top is the Old Town White Coffee's original premises which have been done up nicely since the branding of this kopitiam chain.

Brigadier General Arthur Benison Hubback C.M.G., D.S.O.1871 - 1948 was an architect who designed many important buildings in British Malaya including: The Railway Station, Kuala Lumpur; The Railway Station, Ipoh, Perak; The Railway Administrative Building, Kuala Lumpur; The Old City Hall, Kuala Lumpur (Now Panggung Bandaraya); Ipoh Town Hall Building, Perak; The White House of Klang (Now Galeri Diraja Sultan Abdul Aziz, under the auspices of the Sultan of Selangor); Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lumpur (Masjid Jamek); Ubudiah Mosque, Kuala Kangsar, (Masjid Ubaidah, under the auspices of the Sultan of Perak); State Secretariat Building, Seremban (Now State Library); The Extensions of The Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur (What we see it as, today); Carcosa Sri Negara, Kuala Lumpur; Numerous smaller buildings in Medan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur; Post Office, Kuala Lumpur. He was one of the first British Architects to become a Brigadier General during the First World War. See http://blog.thehubbacks.org/ for more information.

Travels: Red Mountain Golf Club, Phuket

During my trip to Phuket from 13th to 18th January 2011, I played golf at Red Mountain Golf Club. Upon arrival I was immediately impressed by the ambience of the clubhouse. Golf clubhouses in Malaysia tend to be overdesigned, but the way the designers have done it here is very tasteful and simple. The building is supported by cylindrical pillars, unpainted in cement finish, connected to I beams upon which rest the roof structure. Verandahs at the perimeter connect various spaces within and these are of timber structure overhangs of the roof supported by appropriately sized timber pillars. Walls are left in concrete grey and only featured areas are painted white. Projections such as the entry porch and external stairs are covered by pergola structures with polycarbonate covers, whereas low walls at peripheral areas are of natural stone finish. It is to me, a very subtle and well thought of design which sits well with my own ideas of design and personal philosophy.

Travels: Melaka, Kampung Morten

Traditional Malay houses of the Malacca type, indigenously developed throughout centuries by the Malay population is a popular tourist attraction here. Among the distinct features of the Malaccan Malay house compared to that of other states include the distinctive tiled main front staircase, the A shaped roofs and a connecting courtyard between the main house and the kitchen area.

Travels: Melaka; Peringgit Mosque

While on a trip to Melaka, I came across an old mosque that was restored by the Muzeum and Antiquities Department in 2002. Peringgit is a hill that that got its name from the word 'Peringgi' used by the locals referring to the Portuguese. The first mosque built upon this site was constructed in 1726AD but was later destroyed and the present mosque built in its place in 1868AD.

It is essentially a traditional Malacca mosque, square in shape , its foundation built of laterite blocks and Dutch bricks whereas the floor is of terracotta tiles. The roof structure, doors and windows are of timber construction, its three tiered design characteristic of mosque of the period. The verandah was originally roofed using Chinese tiles while the middle and top tiers of Dutch tiles or better known today as the 'Marseille' tiles, but in the restoration the latter tiles were used throughout. The roof summit is made of specially carved corral reefs.

Travels: Circle on Cavill Towers. Gold Coast, Australia.

One of the most impressive buildings I observed during my Gold Coast trip. This architectural design of dynamic verticality explores the possibilities of construction technology today utilizing bold cantilevered slab design that allows for floor plinths at each different level to project to varying dimensions, creating slopes, inclinations and angular lines in the building form and facade expression.

Travels: Residential Architecture in Gold Coast, Australia.

Residential buildings in Gold Coast follow a certain identifiable trend: Expressions of white, distinctly horizontal linear expression of projecting floor slabs and cantilevered balconies; and rectangular composition of fins that frame a low rise building facade. These photos were taken during my trip to Gold Coast Australia in December 2009.

Travels: Steel structure in a pre-war building in Taiping

This white timber building in the Taiping Club is supported by a steel structure.

A very curious structure indeed.

The building is really beautiful in its simplicity.

A close look at the structure tells you that this building is not of the 60s or 70s.

Sometime during mid 2006, whilst doing research for Kelab Sultan Sulaiman project in Kampung Baru, KL, I went to several old towns one of which was Taiping, an obvious choice because of the significant number of pre war buildings that's still around. During a visit to the Taiping Club, recently restored by Lawrence Loh, to my great pleasure I discovered this unique structure, a small timber building supported on steel pillars. I haven't seen anything quite like this before and found this discovery to be truly enlightening as application of structural steel in a timber building such as this is not the norm during colonial times. The building to me is truly a beautiful piece of work.

Travels: Shanghai Pudong International Airport Terminal 2

Designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour+ Partners, this airport is the 3rd busiest in China. On the 7th of June 2010, the day of my return flight to Malaysia, I had the opportunity to take some photographs of the roof structure from inside the departure hall. The structure and ceiling finishes were integrated to form regular curvilinear patterns and the Y shaped column, which is an economical structural device that enables extended coverage of more than 15 metres per bay allows for column free spans. The Y structure itself lends architectural character to the interior spaces.

This building, the Terminal 2, located behind Terminal 1, opened on March 26, 2008 (same day as the official opening of Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport), provides an additional capacity of 40 million passengers a year giving the Shanghai Pudong International Airport a total capacity of 60 million passengers and 4.2 million tonnes of cargo annually.

A view of the departure gates. Note the Y shaped structure outside.
The check in counters. Each column supports 2 bays.

Duty free shops can be seen at the right of this photo.

Another view of the check in area.