Malaysian architect couple's 2-storey terrace KL house embraces natural elements
Their friends told them to move back to Malaysia as the country was “very exciting”, so Huat Lim and his wife Susanne Zeidler did just that in 1992 to explore the country.

The first thing the couple – who are both architects – did was search for a simple house. After a few moves, the couple finally decided to go with their current two-storey terrace link home in Wangsa Ukay, Ampang in Kuala Lumpur.

“When we first bought it, we liked it because it was originally designed by Ken Yeang (Malaysian architect and ecologist). It was a big house and what we liked about it was that the house had a very modernist look.

“But what we felt was challenging inside was that it had a lot of rooms and partitions throughout the house,” shared Lim.

Lim and Zeidler have two children. Their son Viktor lives with them while their daughter Helena lives abroad in Bristol, Britain.

Since purchasing the property in 1992, the home has gone through three major renovations, with an average of three to four years for each renovation.

Open plan with link bridges.

Expanding upwards

As a small family, the couple felt that they could do without that many walls. During the first renovation around the years of 1995 and 1996, they took out all non-supporting walls to create a loft feel.

“During our second renovation, when we saw the potential of extra ventilation, we started changing the windows and we moved all the kitchen and bathrooms to one side of the building. This offered us a lot of visibility back and front and the air was able to flow through the home easily,” said Lim.

The entrance gate is the only door in the house, while the bathrooms have sliding doors; there are no additional fixed dividing walls. Because it is completely open and naturally ventilated on all three levels, air conditioning is not necessary.

Lim shares that the fans run throughout the day to allow the ventilation and natural air going.

The home features a skylight on the third floor, directly above a tree on the lower ground level.

“The tree isn’t doing so well right now, which I think must be a lack of sun coming in, which we would need to rectify. But having a tree in the home was made possible when we dug out the lower ground during the renovations,” said Lim.

The entrance hall with the staircase to the first floor.

Lim shares that during the renovation and design process, his wife, who is originally from Germany, did most of the creative work.

“I think my contribution was in the beginning, the big picture of it all. I would give what the concept would be and the floor plan. I would say the whole thing is all of Susanne’s work and I would come in on the major decisions, therefore no conflict through it all,” said Lim.

“Most of the materials used are very basic and raw as we like to keep it rustic. We believe that building comfort and staying at home is about ventilation along with natural elements, hence we don’t really like air conditioning,” he added.

View of the front garden from above.

The house uses cement bricks as the main material throughout the house, together with plaster while the floorings are all concrete. The link bridges on the second and third floor are made of recycled plywood.

The colour scheme around the house is natural from the wood they use, along with grey from the concrete while most of the furniture chosen is white. They fused a lot of their home decor and furniture that they acquired over the years from Lim’s Baba Nyonya background and Zeidler’s German background; all which made the home even more personal and sentimental to the family

With an open concept that runs throughout, there isn’t anything hidden. There is very limited storage as most of their items, especially books are out in the open.

Lim shares that his favourite space is the reading area.

“I have my spot in the house, in a corner where I get a lot of light in the afternoon, near the kitchen with the kettle on. Susanne likes to stay upstairs and in the evening she likes to read at the back of the garden.

“I really like the flexibility that we get from the house, where we can eat anywhere; in the kitchen or at the outdoor balcony or even in the small garden outside.”
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Located in Wangsa Ukay, Ampang, the home – which has undergone three major renovations – features a spiral staircase, perforated walls and skylight among its design elements.