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Honourable Mentions / by SSO Studio

The Grange at Ampwalk, Kuala Lumpur

Company Name:

SSO Studio

Project Designers:

Alice Lee

Project Location:

Malaysia

Situated within the heart of Kuala Lumpur, The Grange at Ampwalk is a boutique mall built in the 1990s, catering to affluent urbanites. SSO Studio took inspiration from local shophouse’s courtyard – where skylight lights up a section of a building and a place to get-together, a culture once commonly noticeable in the past.

The interior emulates traditional courtyards – where the atrium was draped by a 20-metre-long plant-print membrane, creating an artificial sense of time. Bronze stainless steel demising piers, adorned with greens and a colonnade of lanterns, created a ‘hanging garden’, uplifting shopfront facades, away from conventional shopfronts. A new wheelchair ramp was introduced to cater different floor levels on the ground floor, the ramp was designed to create the feeling of walking in a garden.

The primary challenge was increasing ceiling height while dealing with unsightly ducting. The higher ceilings were designed to hide less ducting whilst lower ceilings accommodated larger ducting and cove lights, lending a dignified ambience. Many existing structures were retained and repurposed to create a dynamic interior.

The overall aesthetic of The Grange recreates an aura of tranquility for city dwellers and mall occupants, offering opportunities for social interactions in a reimagined, nature-inspired urban courtyard.

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