1. [ARC 1323] Architecture Culture & History 2 PRECEDENT STUDYNAME OF BUILDING:Royal Klang ClubLECTURER:Ms. ShahrianneSTUDENTS NAME Ng You Sheng Loo Giap Sheng Daniel Yap Chung Kiat ChristiodySTUDENTS ID 0309997 0310390 0309100 03041911

2. IntroductionRoyal Klang Club Royal Klang Club is a recreation centre which located at Jalan Istana, Kawasan 1, Klang Selangor, Malaysia.The Royal Klang Club has come a long way from its beginnings as a bastion for the white British when Malaysia was still Malaya and under Crown rule. There was an informal gathering between a group of planters, the port Swettenham administrators and shipping agents and civil servants at a wooden bungalow on stilts. The wooden bungalow 2 3. had later become the premises of the Klang Recreational Club when it was founded in 1901. Klang was a place where East meet West when the administrative seat of the Federated Malay State of Selangor. Though the planters who ran the coconut and rubber plantations were European, their subordinates were locals who, upon learning English, took to English ways. In an exchange of cultures, many Britons took it upon themselves to learn Malay, Tamil and Cantonese. This was probably also due to the fact that young British agriculture officers were actually paid for learning a local dialect. The establishment of a recreation facility was, as quoted by R.O.Crawford, the Clubs secretary at the time, an undoubted necessity. But letters dating back to 1902 suggest that there may have been administrative problems that could very well have hampered the growth and formal establishment of the club in its early years. Whatever theories that may be about the date of its founding, 1901 is the date which members in recent times have long been led to believe is the year in which the Club was firmly established. Equally clear is that the Royal Klang Club was then the domain of the white rajahs; an elite recreation facilities for British civil servants. The Club set then consisted of planters not unlike the writer Somerset Maugham, members of the ports operations staff and members of the British administration system such as the District Officer, magistrates and medical officers. Another respected member was the Chief Inspector of Coconuts, a gentleman dedicated to ensuring the quality of the copra the estates were exporting. The original clubhouse was a wooden house on stilts in all probability a government bungalow which had been set aside as a centre for social and recreational activities which was restricted to Europeans only. The cost of the building was $1,000 a goodly sum in those times. However, it being a restricted-entry recreation facility did not mean the Club had no set-up difficulties. Correspondence from its formative years record genteel requests for government funding to purchase furniture and a billiards table. It was only five years later that a proper clubhouse was raised. The clubhouse was built on land that was actually part of the Istana Alam Shah had not yet been constructed. The Clubs current grounds were handed over to the Club chairman by the District Office in 1906. Subsequent Chairmen and Presidents were to act as trustees of the property. During the construction of Royal Klang Club, the land was belonged to Sultan Selangor's palace grounds. The president of Royal Klang Club successfully convinced the Sultan Selangor and land was bought after the completion of Royal Klang Club. Although the land of Royal Klang Club was uneven and consists of plenty of slopes, it does not affects the club very much because every sports are separated from each other and built only on a flat and even surface. By this time, the FMS Railway project had been completed, paring down the arduous journey from Klang to Kuala Lumpur from a three-and-a-half hour journey by 3 4. boat and bullock cart to a two-hour ride by train. This made socializing easier and resulted in a number of guests from Kuala Lumpur. Completed in 1910 after a years work, the clubhouse consisted of a hall and lounge area, dining room, bar and billiards room. The upper portion housed guestrooms and a theatre, which became a venue for Christmas plays and concerts. The Clubs tennis courts were the choice location for the Easter lawn tennis tournaments which was part of the Selangor Lawn Tennis Associations calendar of events. Its playing field saw rugby, hockey and cricket teams vying for sporting dominance, with planters teaming up against personnel from the port authority. The Skye Races, Klangs equivalent of Ascot, was also a much-awaited event, taking place on the grounds where the Klang Municipal Stadium now stands. The Club survived the ravages of the Japanese Occupation in 1942 to 1945 by becoming the recreation mess for Japanese Army officers stationed in Klang and Port Swettenham. While the British returned to Malaya in 1945, it was only after the Communist insurgency through the Fifties and up to 1960 that the Club once again became a popular watering hole and meeting place for British folk. The President of the Club was usually the District Officer or a senior police chief, although planters were also considered for office. The surrounding of Royal Klang Club is filled with trees and nature. If we were playing outdoor sports, we could experience calm and relaxing feeling due to the shade and wind provided by the nature and context. A dining area was added to the Clubs structure in 1965. Called the Smugglers Inn, it was nautical in design and d featuring fishing nets, beer casks and ship beams. cor, The large liquor bottles seen today on display near the rafters of the inn are a throwback to the Sixties. The Smugglers officially opened its door on 18 September, 1965 with a buffet supper being the first meal served.4 5. In the later part of the Sixties, under the Presidency of Reginald (R.J.) Collins, an avid theatregoer, the Club saw an increase in the activities of all things dramatic. It became the centre of British theatrical circles following the establishment of the Klang Theatre Workshop in 1967. Although there was an increase in the number of Malaysian faces in the membership after 1957, the Club fell on hard times after Independence. With the British planters and civil servants departing, the only regular Europeans were those from the shipping industry who treated the Club as just another port of call. Malaysian members were still screened carefully in the Sixties, resulting in the cream of the local crop comprising prominent businessmen and professionals. By this time, however the Club had deteriorated from lack of maintenance and was highly mortgaged. The first Malaysian President, Dr Lim Sian Lock, was the man responsible for pulling the Club out of the red when he took office in 1972. Membership fees were raised to $50, leaping to $300 in 1974. The fee broke into the four-figure range in 1983 when membership cost $1,500. The Club grew to include a swimming pool and annexe during the presidency of its second Malaysian head, Koh Seng Chong in 1976. Although membership increased steadily under third President Dato Shaari bin Mat Jihin who served from 1978 to 1981, the Club did not become a noted sporting entity, with the exception of gold and cricket, until the Eighties. However, the long-standing tradition of a Club-wide celebration of the major festivals was born in this period and continues today. In 1983, the Club was renovated and expanded under fourth President Tan Kim Chooi who holds the record for the longest term in office with 10 years. Membership continued to grow under subsequent Presidents Peter Tan and current head R. Nageswaran. But that is another story altogether. The Clubs millennium development is explored in the next chapter. Today, the Royal Klang Club is a landmark in the royal town where Klang notaries continue to gather socially and professionally, to partake in hearty fare, enjoy sporting camaraderie and build better communities. The past remains a book to learn from but the future is wide open and is being written even as this is read. And with such an illustrious past, the future can only be better.5 6. Architectural element and style Royal Klang Club was built in Klang under British Colonial Government. Although this building was built under British Colonial Government, it had adopted the Malay traditional houses concept in design. Malay traditional house consists of the elements such as vernacular roofs, harmonious proportions, adorned with decorative elements, shading and ventilation, have stairs and the using of renewable materials. All of these elements can be shown on Royal Klang Club. First of all, the planning layout of Royal Klang Club had shown similarities with the Malay traditional house. The orientation of Royal Klang Club is facing north-east which had adopted the same concept of Malay traditional house which was facing eastwest to minimize areas exposed to solar radiation. Besides that, this orientation also suits the wind pattern in Malaysia. Thus, the building will have good ventilation and provide a cooling space in a tropical country. In the building layout, open plan concept was adopted in the design of Royal Klang Club in order to provide good ventilation. The elongated open plans allow easy passage of air, assuring cross ventilation is achieved and thus create good ventilation. Renewable material such as timber was used to construct Royal Klang Club in seventies which share the same feature as the Malay traditional house. Timber used in the construction of Royal Klang Club usually connected without nails. The most specific element that we can see on this building is the top part of this building, which is gabled roof, a basic design of vernacular roof that was used in Malay traditional house. The roof is extended for quite a distance from the exterior wall of the building, creating a big area of shades which can cover the building from taking in direct sunlight and heat. Besides that, the roof designed on a Malay traditional house can trap hot air and push through the air vent design under the roof. This design can effectively decrease the heat in the interior space. Furthermore, there was no ceiling panel used in Malay traditional house to assure that no air blockage. This building had used terracotta roof tiles because terracotta is a bad conductor of heat, thus the building will remain cool even during hot climate. Vernacular architecture style in this building was shown by the construction of the corridor around the main building. The roof is extended to cover over the corridor, also creating large shades to prevent the main building from taking in the direct sunlight and heat, maintaining a lower temperature inside the building, which the design is very suitable for the tropical climate in Malaysia.6 7. Besides the roof, fenestration design was introduced in Royal Klang Club to ensure good ventilation in the building. The windows of this building are also an important architecture element showing the combination of colonial and vernacular architecture style. There were plenty of large windows and doors can be seen in Royal Klang Club and those windows were constructing at the body level. This is to allow cross ventilation in the building. Coordination of architectural elements can be seen between the corridor and the window. Royal Klang Club was built on stilts during seventies which had adopted the elements of Malay traditional house. The reason of building on stilts was to enhance the ventilation. As the air velocity increase with altitude, Royal Klang Club which built on stilts will have better ventilation. The interior of Malay traditional house is adorned with decorative elements which can also apply in Royal Klang Club. The interior spaces of the Royal Klang Club were decorated with the leftovers of British colonial ship. The beams, ceiling and columns are mainly made by timber, the beams are big rectangular in shape and there are repetition of smaller beams all over the ceiling. While the columns are cylindrical in shape and painted black in color, marine ropes and fishing nets can be seen hanging on top of each column, as decorative elements, it gives the interior a feeling of the ship. It is said that those decorative elements are all from an ancient ship in Port Swettenham which is abandoned, they were well kept and displayed until now. These decorative items have made Royal Klang Club become a place of interaction between Malay traditional culture and British colonial culture. Every historical building has a priceless essence and value, and the essence of the Royal Klang Club is the theme and elements of Nautical. The wine rack was dismantled from the ship and installed above the drinking bar table. The rack was repaired and repainted to prevent future deterioration. They displayed the liquors along the rack for decoration purpose only because the liquors are no longer safe to drink due to the expiration period. Orange lighting are projected along the top and the bottom of the rack. Besides displaying liquors, the rack creates the support for the water pipe system. The interior design of the club was intended to create classical and mysterious experience to the users. They used milled wood as primary material to construct the structure and furniture such as bar table and stood, wine rack, column, wall and etc. Milled woods were used because it was widely available during Sir Frank Swettenham arrival period. The milled woods were adopted from the abandoned ships in Port Swettenham. The interior design of the club was based on nautical theme in the 19th century to express ancients and antiquated sensation. The additional of orange lighting gives luxury and noble feeling to the users. The classical music played complements the environment by creating the sense of calm and harmony. The Royal Klang club is the building that is built by Malaysian under British colonial, but this building experienced the style of Malaysian traditional house, Kerala architecture style and a little of British style in the interior. The most specific element that shown Kerala architecture style on this building is the top part of the building, the roof. Then, the column and some element of this building showed the British style. 7 8. Kerala architecture style is mostly found in Indian state of Kerala. Kerala's style of architecture is unique in India, in its striking contrast to Dravidian architecture which is normally practiced in other parts of South India. The architecture of Kerala has been influenced by Dravidian and Indian Vedic architectural science (Vastu Shastra) over two millenniums. The Tantrasamuchaya, Thachu-Shastra, Manushyalaya-Chandrika and Silparatna are important architectural sciences, which have had a strong impact in Kerala Architecture style. The Manushyalaya-Chandrika, a work devoted to domestic architecture is one such science which has its strong roots in Kerala. The primary elements of all structure remain the same. The model is normally circular, square or rectangular plain shapes with a ribbed roof evolved from functional consideration. The most distinctive visual form of Kerala architecture styles is the long, steep sloping roof built to protect the house's walls. The roof frame usually made of hardwood and timber. The natural building materials available for construction in Kerala are stones, timber, clay and palm leaves.Rumah Muar ( Malaysian Traditional House ) One of the Malaysian traditional houses made by timber and hardwood. This Rumah Muar also contents the characteristic of Rumah panggung. This Rumah muar has stairs infront of the house. Then the wall, window and the roof frame were made by timber. Now Rumah muar still can be found in Johor. The most striking part in royal klang club building is the roof. The roof part look very similar with the roof of the Mishkal Mosque building which content the characteristic of Kerala architecture. After that, Royal Klang club also content the gabled roof and dormer roof, which is also one of the characteristics of Kerala architecture. The Royal Klang club building did renovation in 1983 which they add on the gazebo on the entrance of the building like a walkway. The roof part of this gazebo looks very similar to Malaysian traditional house roof which called Rumah Muar, and lastly the wall of the building is like conventional brick wall and didn't have any specific style.8 9. In the conclusion, the Royal Klang Club consists of many different architecture styles due to the impact of the environment and the user since 19th centuries until now, for example, it consists of the concept of Malaysian traditional house, British colonial style, Kerala architecture style and Rumah Muar style. Besides that, the soul of this club house is the theme of Nautical, which all the nautical elements were from a real abandoned ship and the building itself is located near the port klang. Due to the complicated mix of architecture languages in the club house, the users of the club today doesnt really know the architecture style of the building, even the clubs staffs and manager cant tell the architecture elements. Today, the building is a combination of traditional and modern architecture and it is open for all citizens to apply for membership and enjoy the facilities provided.References Malay Houses | Vernacular Architecture. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://vernaculararchitecture.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/hello-world/ Retrieved from http://www.ijee.net/Journal/ijee/vol3/no5/4.pdf/page22 Royal Klang Club. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.royalklangclub.com.my/ News - CariGold Portal. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.carigold.com/portal/modules/News/showarticle.php?threadid=365339&page=9 TRADITIONAL KERALA ARCHITECTURE | Boney Philip - Academia.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/399101/TRADITIONAL_KERALA_ARCHITECTURE9 10. PRESENTATION BOARDCHRISTIODY LIMNG YOU SHENGLOO GIAP SHENGDANIEL YAP CHUNG KIAT10