It seems to gently float above the ground and, at night, can be seen from far away, thanks to the lights installed on columns outside the building, an allegory of rainforest trees and flickering fireflies.
The Malaysia Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 was officially launched on Oct 4 and is the first pavilion announced as a net zero carbon initiative at the Expo.
Speaking from there on Monday was its architect Serina Hijjas, head of Hijjas Architects & Planners, who gave a talk entitled “Restoring balance with ecology”.
Her talk was part of the Women in Architecture and Design – Contribution Towards Climate Resilient Architecture virtual session organised under the Archidex Fast Forward Webinar series held in conjunction with World Architecture Day on Oct 4.
“Restoring balance with ecology is the way of the future. We are now at a critical intersection where we really need to combine energy, resources and ecology to restore balance back to our planet,” said Serina.
“We need to move faster in the transition to a new norm where I believe a minimum of 50% reduction in energy and a 50% increase in ecology and biodiversity by 2030 at the very least is required to protect us from climate change,” she emphasised.
One of the things that Serina has been very interested in is how big our environmental footprint is.
“Our ecological footprint is the only matrix that measures how much nature we have and how much nature we use. It’s the nation’s biocapacity.”
Malaysia, she said, currently stands at a biocapacity of about 2.3gha (global hectares per person) while our ecological footprint is about 3.9gha, which means we are at a deficit.
“Our carbon footprint is something we can’t see but is measured by how much we use, consume and build. And obviously, buildings have a large carbon footprint.
“So these were some of our thought processes when we were looking to do the Malaysia Pavilion,” explained Serina.
One of the questions that often arises is how sustainable expos are.
“This is actually the first expo that has required a complete sustainable report card from every pavilion that’s built here. Every pavilion is basically showcasing what their contributions are nationally, and directions in terms of sustainability.
“So it’s really quite interesting. We have seen timber foundations, mud earth constructions, and much larger use of recycled plastic for the actual facade of a building (Russia Pavilion).”
The Malaysia Pavilion, said Serina, has one of the smallest footprints in terms of plot size in the whole expo, but has a large impact in terms of its direction on sustainability.
“Our theme is ‘Energising Sustainability’, so advancing net zero carbon and net zero energy is the way of the future.
“The Malaysia Pavilion is based on the concept of a rainforest canopy, with the idea of touching the ground lightly not only in terms of the building, which floats above the ground, but also in terms of the impact that it has made,” she added.
With a build-up of 1,790sq m, the pavilion is a lightweight structure featuring a facade and flooring made with sustainable timber.
A series of symbolic tree trunks fashioned out of white steel poles marks one’s entry into the pavilion. Located among the poles is a meandering path which continues below to the elevated building canopies, creating a natural queueing space with waiting log benches and native materials.
A bioswale reed bed formed by collected grey water makes a light reflective pool and threshold into the pavilion grounds. (Bioswales are channels with vegetation designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution.)
A gently sloping path continues to take visitors under the building with a water feature running along the entire movement of the path. Along this pathway, mimicking the beautiful patterns of meandering Sarawak rivers, are features like the shaded outdoor performance amphitheatre, vertical misting planting poles and sunken gardens.
Kind on the environment
To reduce the use of fossil fuel, solar PV panels were installed on the roof of the pavilion, offering 10% of energy on-site.
“To construct the pavilion, we looked to use sustainable timber because we wanted to build something very lightweight and also because when we decommission the building, 75% of it will be upcycled,” said Serina.
The building also boasts an 85% reduction in potable water use and 25.7% energy reduction on-site.
All these, coupled with off-site forest conservation efforts, make the pavilion a net zero energy and net zero carbon building.
“The other idea for the pavilion is to showcase to the world that we are actually making efforts for reforestation and restoration. We have an internal exhibition that talks about that.
“We also wanted to raise the issue of our sustainable plantations, especially when every drop of palm oil we produced was certified sustainable by 2020.
“But more than that, we wanted to show how Malaysia has switched to sustainable plantations for the past five years already, and with a lot of benefit to the ecosystem."
As a whole, Serina said they have multiple aims for the structure at the Expo.
“We wanted to create a pavilion set in nature that explains about our sustainable plantations, reforestation and restoration efforts, and lets people have a spatial experience that gives them this organic feel,” she concluded.
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