Gale’s Residence / Gilbert&Tan

Gale’s Residence is a complete remodeling of a 1970s terrace house located in a hilly suburb of Kuala Lumpur. The brief was to reconfigure the layout and to transform an interior that was dark, cloistered, and suffered from many poorly designed spaces; into one that feels bright, spacious, and well organized. At the onset, lengthy conversations took place with the owner to either up-cycle the existing frame or instead extend with a second floor (a common scenario in the region with the underlying motive to optimize value). The final decision to up-cycle and to dwell in optimizing the one-storey model resulted from the owner’s desire to enhance the building’s original character.