HOTEL

Ban Seing Taik Hotel

Set within the neighbourhood of Ipoh’s old commercial shop houses, you will be greeted by the 5 foot way varendah before you enter into the hotel’s lobby and its cooling courtyard.

Reminiscence of the light ray reaching into the deep space, all rooms are installed with transparent polyethylene roof sheet. The wall becomes the canvas of the falling light, creating wall texture and illuminating the spaces below. Similar to the traditional building where artificial lighting is scarce, the natural lighting keep the space bright and dry. The existing roof and tall ceiling height is maintained to trap heat from the sunlight, creating a cooler space on the bedding area.

From top to bottom, the traditional roof eaves, zinc roof, brownish red painted walls and terracotta tiles set the tone for the heritage design. Once was covered with timber and corrugated sheet, deliberate use of the exposed brick wall and the bright red steel work is used to show the existing feature of the traditional shophouse, where the story of the building is retained and exposed to its guests.

The iconic Chinese motif butterfly shaped air vent, timber windows with iron bars, carved timber doors, wooden louvered shutter windows and the terracotta U shaped roof tiles are maintained to retain the existing character of the architecture. However, as the original structure has gone dilapidated, the surviving structure and the new reinforcing structure are exposed to the hotel guests, as a means to tell an honest story in the process of conservation.

At the entrance foyer, the ceiling captures reinforcement done to the existing timber structure. The new reinforcement is painted with bright red, whilst the original timber is further protected with layers of shellac. The connection between the old and the new are highlighted with a tint of gold paint, as seen in the traditional roof eaves of Chinese Architecture. With this, the revelation of the reinforcement implies honesty in the expression of heritage design.

The design look into honesty in conservation generally, seeking its authenticity and what is to be revealed. The building is the preservation of the complete story via its tangible and intangible, from its architecture features, to its narrow alley, penetrating light and dark corners. As the guest enter into the hotel, old remnants of the past and the new recreated past are well differentiated to show the contrast. He/she can compare the memory left behind, memory in the form of materiality and lighting. So whether the guest walk through courtyard or living in the hotel, he/she can experience living in the story left and designed in the architecture.