Veritas Design Group founder and president David Mizan Hashim
“IT’S tough to make predictions, especially about the future”.
This idiosyncratic quote by American baseball legend Yogi Berra came to mind when I was asked for my perspective on what’s in store in 2023 and beyond for the architectural design and real-estate development sectors in Malaysia.
It’s tough because there’s so much change happening in Malaysia and the world. In fact, change is accelerating.
Factors such as climate change, trade wars (and shooting ones), technological advancements, demographic trends and the threat of future pandemics all conspire to make prophesies on this subject even tougher than Yogi Berra imagined.
Nevertheless, despite these uncertainties, we have noted in recent interactions with (and professional work for) our clients, who are among the leading property developers in Malaysia today, that there are some definable trends shaping the arc of future design and development.
Because this topic is so wide however, making the risk of mis-predicting even greater, I’ve decided to restrict my prognosis to what is probably the most important typology within the architectural and development sectors, i.e. the high-rise residential building. Also, given the relative slow-down in construction of this building type recently, despite the increasing growth and urbanisation of Malaysia’s population, it is likely to be the most prevalent building type to be designed and constructed in our cities over the next few years.
Firstly, at the macro level, while I foresee many new strata high-rise residential towers being launched, I believe that most will happen within large mixed-use developments which contain integrated live-work-shop-play components for ease and efficiency of modern living.
These vertical cities-within-a-city will provide an urban lifestyle of convenience and community identity.
The better ones will feature lots of parks and open space, a car-free pedestrian-friendly public realm and links to mass public transport.
For the buildings themselves, post-pandemic health-focused design incorporating resilient solutions are influencing the design and layout of common facilities, typical floors and internal unit layouts.
I expect that future projects will incorporate more sky and roof gardens, natural ventilation and lighting, wider spaces and corridors and be integrated more with landscape.
Aspects of resident security and safety will be emphasised and common facilities will be expanded and enhanced, especially outdoor ones such as gardens, swimming pools, barbeque areas, playgrounds and exercise zones etc.
Within the units themselves, balconies (or lanais) and gated entrance foyers will become essential unit layout features.
The pandemic has also changed our work habits, so future apartment design will incorporate spaces which are flexible for working from home.
For example, sliding walls will change a bedroom into a working space. The emergence of the gig economy (and its food delivery ecosystem) may also influence for smaller individual kitchens and larger ground-floor reception lobbies (acting as distribution centres).
Meanwhile, with the growing interest in environmental, social and governance criterion among both purchasers and developers, there will be a renewed commitment to environmental sustainability in future high-rise residential projects.
Not only will they need to look more “green”, they will need to actually perform better in energy and water consumption and waste treatment.
So expect to see roof-top vegetable gardens, photovoltaic arrays, biogas generation tanks and waste and water recycling systems within our future apartment developments.
In fact, these are already becoming common features in Singapore and other advanced nations.
Next year will also see the full implementation of Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 (MRT2) and the launch of MRT3 in Kuala Lumpur, to bolster other mass transit projects such as the Light Rail Transit 3 and the Klang Valley Double Track.
This will influence not only where future developments arise (Transit Oriented Developments or Tods), but also the kind of apartments which will appear.
For example, expect smaller units (especially near Tods) with less car parks, lots of shared facilities (including community kitchens) and common work spaces.
While all the above will appeal to the millennial cohort of residential property purchasers (which will comprise the bulk in 2023 and beyond), there is also the growing demographic of ageing Malaysians for whom apartment designs will need to cater.
This transformation would include wellness-themed design concepts with embedded medical infrastructure, universal (wheelchair-friendly) design, age-relevant common facilities and even “concierge” type personal and healthcare services.
Aesthetically, I also foresee that the post-pandemic cultural ethos of “minimalism” prevalent today, will influence the architectural character of future residential towers to be more modern, clean-lined and efficient.
Gone will be the flamboyant architectural flourishes and decorative embellishments which typified high-rise design in the past decade.
This is also a response in part to the lower spending power of the public but also to a more frugal life-style of the current zeitgeist.
David Mizan Hashim is the founder and president of Veritas Design Group. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
