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Almost everything you need to learn about building your dream home. Find it here. Or, should you have any questions you have been wondering, not knowing who to ask,  e-mail us, we'll look it up for you.

Arkitek Punca Cipta
A 50 person architecture consultancy firm based in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The multi-disciplinary practice employing various professionals in building industry is geared towards providing service in development. With an impressive arrays of clients including multi-nationals and considerable experience in academia, , institutions and oil and gas (non-process) sector, we are readily available to work beyond the national boundary.

Happy reading!

THE A TO Z TO DREAM HOUSE
A public service Website from Arkitek Punca Cipta
for Malay version  [under construction] click here
 

In 1995 when I returned to Kuala Terengganu to start APC, an abandoned housing project caught my attention. It was one project I had worked on when I first started work in 1984. Four years later, together with some friends, I took over the projects, bring back life into it and a small cozy community grew. Helped by the success, I went on to manage a few more house for others. This time around my luck is mixed. I now fully realize the lesson a friend once taught me. Do a house for them, you will either end the best of friend or the worst of enemy.  The involvement in these houses mark  my re-education in construction. I learnt first hand the pain of the tradesmen, the agony of the owner and the frustration of the architect. I had my finger burnt financially too but shrugged it off  in the name of education. It was the kind of education no university can teach. That is what I want to share with all of you, the young architects especially, for eventually you will be a house owner too.

A B C OF DREAM HOUSE

ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS AND CLIENT form the trinity of dream. Together in a good bond your steps will be smooth and filled with smiles. Otherwise it will be a road paved with thorns and stones.

When someone tells me that a good house come from a good architect, I tell them that it first take a good client. An architect from heaven can't do much for a client from hell. It applies both ways. Likewise the BUILDER/contractor.

A IS FOR ARCHITECTS
Choose your architect well. Don't choose him because he's free, cheap or a friend say so. Go to his office, talk to him, ask for his clients, talk to them. Go and see his works. Ask for his fee, he may be expensive. He may be too cheap too. Go see his house. That tells you a lot about his preferred styles.  I'm an architect, I want to know you before I take a job. I'd tell you names of my clients, the one who is happy and the one who is not. Talk to them. Then, only then will you come back to me. I say this because in the end I either be your friend or not at all, and I want to be your friend. I say this because in the course of designing your house I am going to learn a lot about you, what you like and what you don't. I will get to know your family, the bachelor architect in my office might fall for your daughter and I will even learn of some of your other secrets.  

An architect must tell you his fee. Sign a contract with him. When he did his work pay him. Pay him according to the architect  scale of fee so that he'll do his best for you. And if he don't be assured that you can sue him. If you don't pay him don't expect anything more than those few pieces of paper.

A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE
To put simply it is what you normally call style, the roman, classical, tropical term you talk about. But architecture is more than that, its about form, space, function, order and time. You need to go to architecture school for that. Working with layman, I use the term 'grand house' for the huge (or sometimes no so huge) houses with tall classical pillars, tropical house for the ones with large overhangs and tradiional, semi-traditional (though not necessarily) looks and  modern house after the glass-box  type of house. Of course there's the hybrids of everything. Especially if you brought him tomes of glossy Impiana and Anjung Seri. Architects are normally trained to shape your house in line with the architectural form, space and order and look into the technicalities of the pipes and cables though he may not necessarily like your choice of style. 
 
Grand House                                    Tropical Veranda

Not all architecture design or style is suitable to a person. Each will have its good and bad points. The important thing is to know yourself, your life-styles and even what you cook in the kitchen. Tropical style may look tempting with the ongoing Balinese- craze period but it comes with mosquitoes. Are you ready for it? Grand houses may be great for displaying your crystals and Queen Anne's - but are your kids behavior up to it. Chandelier looks great on high volume space - but how do you dust the cobwebs?

B IS FOR BUILDER
An architect can do so much as drawing only and looking that the drawing is translated well. The builder is the one that turn your dream into reality.  I don't like to use the term contractor because they are not the one that build, they do more in managing the works only. It's hard to keep track of people working on your house because the trades differ from a stage to another. There will be no less than 12 trades to get a house built, so people in all shapes and character come and go. In the year or so 'under construction', they and not you roam and rule your house. The key person in construction is the foremen or the 'kepala.' He controls, direct and pay the workers. If you need to talk to anyone on site, talk to the kepala, not to the workers. On site, never shout at the workers, never do anything that insults or anger them. Do that and you might never know when bricks fall from upper floor. Or the nicer one will just walk out on you. If you can, (except under extreme situation only) never change your workers (the key people, I mean). The next one will only see the bad things about the first one and with all the bad-mouthing you'll be confused. That slightly off-level, crooked thing never really matter; they make noise only to skim more money from you.  About wanting perfection? See P for PERFECTION.

Like architects, know your builders well. Don't engage them because they are cheap or free. Ask for reference, see their completed works, talk to the owners. You really need to be comfortable because they are the ones whom you need to see almost everyday later. 

For list of builders/tradesmen working on your house [click here]

B IS FOR BUDGET
Be doubly sure of your budget. Draw budget in detail and stick to it. Let your architect know your max and any contingencies. It is foolish to tell your architect that you plan for a cheap thing (so that the fee is lower) then to go for the expensive one, be it in material, labor cost or whatever. The rules that good things don't come cheap applies. A cheap architect (or a free one) won't be able to look after your flight of fancy. So is the builders, or building materials. 

B IS FOR BRICKS, BRICKLAYERS
Unless you are building in wood or glass, or even with wood and glass, bricks make up the main component of your house. So the bricklayers make a lot of difference. Bricks are normally in baked clay (the red one) or cement sand (the gray one) while a more expensive one like calcium silicate bricks are available if you are really spending. As bricks are normally plastered, it doesn't matter much if you use clay or cement sand. But plasterer prefers clay over cement as its water absorption rate is lower and plaster quality is better. Structurally, the clay bricks are stronger but in reinforced concrete construction, engineer doesn't even take brick strength into consideration.

B IS FOR BOLTS AND NUTS

B IS FOR BATHROOMS
A major cost center for the house. Within that 2m x 2.4m of space (or less though I've seen some huge bathrooms) are all the wcs, taps, sinks, bath tubs, showers and accessories. Not to mention the tiles - done up wall to wall to ceiling. House bathrooms are increasingly designed like hotel's bathroom - small, compact and practical. But do you know that there are at least 13 items making up a hotel bathroom? 

Lets see how much a typical bathroom cost. (Click)

C IS FOR CONTRACTS
C IS FOR CEILINGS
C IS FOR CURTAINS
C IS FOR COLOR
[Look at PAINTS}

D IS FOR DREAM AND DESIGN
D IS FOR DOORS

E IS FOR ELECTRICAL WORKS
Unless you decided on monastic lifestyle, you need electricity. Loads of it in fact. Know first that the there's only single phase and 3-phase connection. (No 2-phase power available). Single phase is good for a small house with limited power use and no (maybe one) air conditioner. More than that and for all new houses I recommend 3-phase. Then there's the metal box with all the switches inside, it's the Main Switch Board. Then, there's the smaller ones at every floor, if you have more than one floor, or if your house a mansion spread-out over large area. It's called sub distribution board (sub DB for short). Its from this boxes that all cables originated and the very place you need to check and flick-up the switch after a trip. So have them in an easily accessible and safe place in the house.

Power points you need a plenty this days. Just count how many electrical utensils you have in the kitchen to have an idea. Unless of course you want to load the plug points one on top of the other. It dangerous, very-very dangerous. If you are planning for power points in the bathroom (for water heater, hair dryer, shaver etc.) use water proof type. Water is an electrical conductor. We learnt that in primary school, so don't forget.

Decide early too where you want to have your chandeliers, ceiling lights, wall lights, spot lights. Get an interior furniture lay-out drawn before putting them in place. If your architect or ID can't do them for you, its because you pay him too little or he's simply no good. But don't blame him if you are fickle minded and you keep changing your mind every next day.
 
Electrical Contractors are the one who mess up your well-plastered wall with their hacking and chasing. (Chase as of making pipe routing not running after) the blame is partly on you if you have no idea what and where to put your switches or lights. Blame it on your architect and ID too. Try not to rush the plastering until all lights are decided, cable conduits are fixed and the built in cabinets decided. Electrical meter now need to be on the gate. So decide on your grand gate pillars early.