Sentul. Since the emergence of its form, it
has garnered nicknames like 'the crooked
building', 'the up-ended battleship', 'the
kris', and 'the bengkok building' amongst
taxi drivers, inquisitive passers-by and
curious onlookers.
THE PROGRAMMATIC AND URBAN
DEMANDS
The vision was to create a new designed
urban environment to stimulate urban
revival and to provide about 500 units of
mid-cost housing in Sentul. Conceived as
part of a larger masterplan of buildings,
bridges, parks, gardens and railroad
corridors, The Capers is the high-rise
residential counterpoint (in form and in
usage) to a series of adjacent low-rise
office and commercial blocks.
The structural design is predominantly an
interlocking series of reinforced concrete
vertical shear walls and horizontal
flat slabs. This rudimentary economy
of its structure belies the challenges
encountered, subsequently, on site. For
instance, the jagged form of the towers
prevent normal methods of hoisting,
delivery and installation. Common
construction methods were rethought and
improvised.
Materials like aluminium panelling and
steel edge-detailing were deployed as a
leitmotif to express a fresh aesthetic to the
prevailing multicolour and plaster-andpaint Sentul experience. Details of metallic
fins and edges were also incorporated to
preserve proportions and geometry of the
design.
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Photos Courtesy of RT+Q Architects
Page 71 - Archetech
The residential units consist of flats,
maisonettes, penthouses, bridge units and
townhouses designed around a forum
of landscaping, greenery, water-features,
swimming pools, pavilions and amenities
like function rooms, gymnasiums, prayer
rooms, childcare centres, playgrounds
and laundromats; in essence, it is a vital
microcosm of a larger and mature urban
context. The towers are oriented with
views towards Batu Caves (the region’s
tourist attraction of limestone cave
temples) to the north and the Petronas
Twin Towers (until recently the world’s
tallest buildings) to the south.
THE STRUCTURAL AND CONSTRUCTION
CHALLENGE
The construction is borne out of a series of
modest building methods, materials and
structural design. For instance, the twists
and turns of the building form is a result
of simple laws of physics: as the floor-slabs
are 'pushed out' every floor to sculpt the
slanted profile of the tower, the building
'knows when to turn back' as gravity looms
and common-sense prevails.