丨马来西亚沙巴

Pondok Tagal

Kampung Maligan, Malaysia

Gathering space for the Tagal committee

Arkitrek 2014 Design-and-Build Camp; Rory Thor Dickens (Team Leader), James Coe, Putri Haniman, Shafinaz Kamal, Erica Malaguti, Johanna Mayr, Syahrul Syazwani Shaharir, and Revathi Roopini Veriah Arkitrek Staff: Ian Hall, Sarah Greenlees, Rahim Mudin

Kampong Maligan is a small village surrounded by a Forestry Reserve, in

the Sipitang region of southeast Sabah, Malaysia. Although Malaysia is one of

S.E. Asia’s most developed countries, the resource-rich eastern states of Sabah

and Sarawak still suffer from a lack of education and opportunity. Development in

these states has been largely driven by NGOs and community organisations. The

Avantha Foundation Malaysia has been supporting the communities in the

Western District of Sabah to establish community enterprise and environmental

conservation.

The design team involved all members of the community in the design and

construction process. During the design phase, the Tagal committee taught the

design team all about the Tagal system, the spatial requirements of the project,

and design features traditionally implemented in their tribal (Murut) culture. The

design team used locally sourced materials and design sustainably, but was also

conscious of not encouraging inappropriate technology transfer. The close

collaboration with the Tagal committee at this early stage resulted in the best of

both innovative construction techniques and cultural values. We hope that this

collaboration will mean that the construction techniques are more likely to be used

in the community’s future projects.

Structural bamboo, as well as woven bamboo was used in construction.

Although this natural resource is readily available, it is rarely used, as there is no

known reliable treatment method. During the build process, villagers were taught

how to treat the bamboo with Borax solution, as this was deemed the most

appropriate method for their location.

Sabah has a humid, tropical climate with no prevailing wind and often little

breeze. Cross ventilation and stack ventilation are of paramount importance. The

mono-pitched roof combats this lack of natural air movement to create a thermally

comfortable space within the building by providing an outlet for heated air to

escape. Open weave bamboo panels on the north and south elevations allow

cross ventilation of air that is naturally cooled by an adjacent bamboo grove. The

biocrete wall has an evaporative cooling effect, increasing the effectiveness of

both ventilation strategies.

panorama of the completed building

detail top of column

plastic bottle wall

site plan

floor plan

front elevation