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ABOUT Ar. Don Cheong

BONUS : Sneak peek on 2 PROJECTS

Special interview with Ar. Don Cheong

EXLUSIVE INFO ON THE

BACKGROUND OF

DPLUS Associates

Introduction to Construction Industry

An ARCHITECT is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings.

content

•COMPANY PROFILE………………………………………. 1

•AR. DON CHEONG’S PROFILE………………………… 2

•LIST OF PROJECTS…………………………………………. 3

•PROJECT 1……………………………………………………… 4-5

•PROJECT 2……………………………………………………… 6-7

•Q&A………………………………………………………………… 8-9

AssociatesDPLUS

Dplus Associates Sdn Bhd is established by Mr. Don Cheong in collaboration and association with a few d i r e c t o r s o f v a r i o u s technical and specialist in building industry. Dplus Associates Sdn Bhd is set to gear towards creating "passionately inspiring designs.”

It has been registered since 2011, the directors have each under their wings an average of 10 to 30 years of experiences. The firm belief that team work is important for the e x e c u t i o n o f a s u c c e s s f u l architectural prog ram and a successful final product.

T h e s p a r k o f p a s s i o n i n Architectural practice has lead to the success of the company. The company now is moving towards finer details such as Interior, furniture and Industrial Design. For better communication with the clients, they have also developed a 3D illustration and Animation Studio. Therefore, they could cover a large scope of works in the area of design. In order to have a complete solution for clients’ needs, they have to collaborate and work with the wider fields of consultants such as engineers, surveyors, graphics and branding designers.

DON CHEONG ARCHITECT DPLUS ASSOCIATES SDN BHD No. 39-2, Jalan Radin Anum 1 Taman Seri Petaling 57000 Kuala Lumpur

AR. DON CHEONG’S PROFILE BA(Hons), H.Dip.Arch(UK), LAM, APAM and RIBA.

In 1987, there was a recession period in Malaysia. According to Mr. Don, most of his friends took accountancy, computer science and business, he on the other hand was determined to take architecture. He went to ask PAM about his choice in choosing architecture during that time. After meeting PAM, PAM told Don about the recession and the cons in becoming an architect. PAM asked Don what is his second choice in his career, and Don answered “interior design”. In the end, PAM told Don to just take architecture.

Don Cheong went to pursue his studies in Howl School of Architecture, United Kingdom. He graduated in UK and came back to Malaysia in 1992.

Whilst under employment, he worked on housing projects, 5-star hotel development, Resort development, golf and non-golf

clubhouses, and master-planning of an island resort.

He then went on to set up his own architectural practice Don Cheong Architect in 1999. During the early years of the practice, he has worked mainly on individual residences and interior design. Later on, he has managed to secure low-rise housing, high-rise housing, f a c t o r i e s , c o m m e r c i a l , i n s t i t u t i o n a l a n d m a s t e r -planning of townships.

In 2011,he established Dplus Associates Sdn. Bhd, expanding the projects over from his practice. As the managing director of the company, Don overseas the well-being of the company in its entirely. He focus on the direction and marketing strategies of the company. His passion in design allowed him to play a key role in the finalising solutions.

Managing director of the DPLUS ASSOCIATES

SDN BHD.

LIST OF PROJECTS BY DPLUS ASSOCIATES SDN. BHD.

High Rise Residence • Suria Valencia - Lot 2086 • Suria Residence - Lot 1725 • Suria Court - Lot 630 • Star Garden Melawati • Mahkota Residence - Lot 779 • Mahkota Residence - Lot 1121 • Balakong Service Apartment -

Lot 3160 • Molek Vista Condominium

Low Rise Residence • Suria Tropika • OCR • Layang-layang • USJ11 terrace houses

Individual Residence(Bungalow) • Datuk Zain’s Bungalow • The Trilogy • Villa Shasha • Ark • Lim’s Residence • Arte House • Crombie’s House

Industrial/Factories • Signature Corporate Park • Suria Park - Lot4631 • Semenyih 1888

Education/Institution • YPC College

Master planning/Landscape • Signature Corporate

Park • Layang-layang • Lahad Datu

Interior Design • Hijuan • Limus • Lahad Datu • Kiara Valle Penthouse • The Trilogy • Ark • Arte House • Suria Park - Lot 4631 • Semenyih Lot 1888 • Star Garden - Malawi • Molek Vista

Condominium

Mahkota Residence, Bandar Mahkota, Cheras.

• M a h k o t a R e s i d e n c e i s a c o n d o m i n i u m l o c a t e d i n C h e r a s , S e l a n g o r . T h i s residence consists of three of eight storey blocks and offers a total of 67 units, which comes with built-up ranging between 1,066 sf and 1,222 sf.

• All units in residence come with spacious 3 bedrooms and 2 b a t h r o o m s . A m o n g t h e f a c i l i t i e s o f f e r e d a r e swimming pool, clubhouse, children’s playground, jogging track, sauna, surau and 24-hour security.

• T h e r e a r e a l s o a l o t o f amenities located closely to Mahkota Residence which are Mydin Supermarket, Tesco, Carrefour, Econsave, AEON M a h k o t a C h e r a s , A E O N Cheras Selatan, Sungai Long G o l f a n d C o u n t r y C l u b , Columbia Asia Hospital and Kajang Hospital.

• Moreover, there is also an upcoming MRT station being d e v e l o p e d n e a r M a h k o t a Residence. Besides that, this residence is linked to numerous roads and highways such as Jalan Pahlawan, Persiaran Mahkota Cheras 1, Persiaran Mahkota Cheras 2, Lebuh Utama Tun Hussain Onn, Jalan Sungai Long, Cheras - Kajang Highway and Silk Highway.

• This residence was developed several years ago and currently this residence comes with a subsale price which begin from RM400,000 onwards. The monthly rental is RM1000 and a b o v e . T h i s r e s i d e n c e i s strategically located closely to numerous residences and it only takes a short drive to reach neighbouring towns such as Kajang, Bangi, Kuala Lumpur and Serdang.

Mahkota Residence Client: Cheras Hong Soon Dev. Sdn. Bhd.

Ar. Don Cheong role

As the boss and architect for this project,he gave directions to the staffs and the team on their tasks. He oversees and manage on what they have to do. “An architect is like a conductor in an orchestra. An architect needs to know about every profession and what they do in the construction industry.”

So, the first thing he did was accepting a project proposal from a client. Then, he met up with the client and we discussed about the building requirements. He did a 3D sketch free-handedly and showed it to my client. When the client was satisfied with the model, he picked a team to start drafting the project. They finalised the ideas for the project and make the other drawing for the other construction teams.

Pre-Construction When distributing the drawings to other parts of the construction team, he chose a contractor to make contract with in order to initiate the construction itself. At this stage, he and the construction teams had to be in constant communication to make

sure that each and every one them fully understand the drawings and attend to any problems beforehand.

During Construction During construction,he spent most of his time on site in order to make sure that the construction work is on time and on track with our schedule. This way any problems were dealt with on the spot and quickly moved on to other parts of the project. The designers,

surveyors, consultants, contractors and construction workers have to work together. Hence, communication plays a very important factor in carrying the tasks on site.

Post-Construction Here, most of his job were closely related to the end-users, clients and customers. In any case if a client is not satisfied with their work, then they still provide support and tolerance to tend to their complaints and try to compromise to the best of our abilities as a company.

Duration: 3yrs +

• USJ 11 is a residential precinct located in Subang Jaya. It is in between USJ 4, USJ 5, USJ 9, USJ 12 and USJ Taipan USJ 10. It comprises 2-storey terrace houses, 2-storey semi-detached homes, an apartment called Arcadia, and a condominium and townhouse building called Sri Bayu. There are a few rows of shoplots within the area as well. The price of the terraces are from RM860,000 to RM3,300,000. The monthly rental is RM1,300 & above.

• The semi-detached houses have built-up size of 3,825 sf with land area of 45 ft x 85 ft. Each comprises of 5 + 1 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Meanwhile, the terrace houses have built-up area from 1,650 sf and with land area from 22 ft x 75 ft.

• There are a lot of facilities near there such as 24-hours security, outdoor parks and playgrounds, football field, children’s playground, basketball court, futile court and shop lots.

• The advantages of staying in USJ11 is that it is neither too near or too far to LRT and train stations.

• USJ11 is within walking distance to Taipan Business Centre. • The highways connected to UJS11 include New Klang Valley

Expressway (NKVE), Shah Alam Highway (KESAS), New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Subang Airport Highway and Damansara - Puchong Highway (LDP).

USJ 11 Terrace Houses“House of Lancaster”

USJ 11 Terrace Houses“House of Lancaster”

• According to Mr. Don, the process of constructing a building is all the same for architects. Its just a matter of what kind of buildings, the types of materials used, the building requirements, clients wants and needs, cost of building, site or location, purpose of building and many more. But the general or skeletal process are practically similar.

• The terrace houses shown in the image above are one of his first projects in 1993. As you can see within a row of terraces there are different styles of housing design. These design are based on the client’s requirement. This allow the client to feel that their home is unique to itself. Hence, exhibits the specificity and diversity of housing.

• The duration to built terrace houses is about 18 months depending on the size of the project. This makes the company more desirable because despite their multiple projects, they are still able to keep the standard of the building. Whilst at the same time, keeping the buildings’ sense of individuality.

Q: What are the roles of an architect in a certain project? A: An architect is like a conductor in an orchestra. An architect needs to know about all the profession and what they do in the construction industry. So that he or she can give direction to staffs and other teams. An architect is involved in all the stages of the construction. From start until the end. The architect needs to go to the site to check on the progress and also make sure that nothing is wrong.

Q: What responsibilities does an architect have? A: The architect has a lot of responsibilities. As an architect, you will need to design the building, think about the building's style, safety and sustainability. Architect also has to take note about the taste and needs of the client.

Q: What kind of qualities should an architect have? A: An architect has a very big responsibility in construction industry. So, the first thing is that being an architect, you need to have a sense of responsibility to all projects/work. An architect should have perseverance as you need to do sketching and drawings again and again if the sketching got rejected. An architect also should have a sense of timing. He/She has to know how to manage his/her time and don't procrastinate.

Q: What did you do as a junior architect? A: I mostly did odd jobs in the office such as sweeping the floor, cleaning the toilets, sharpening pencils, printing plans etc. I also did some small projects. Mostly detailed projects. For example, I sketch small rooms or bathrooms for a certain project.

Q&A “An architect is like a conductor in an orchestra. An architect needs to know about all the profession and what they do in the construction industry.”

Q: Do you think that the rise in technology changed the way architects work now? How? A: Yes, of course. During the old days, architects use paper to sketch their proposals, plans etc. But now, majority of the architects uses laptops or desktop to draw out their plans. Because of technology, people nowadays don't use their imagination anymore. The clients want the architects or designers or anyone to show them the photorealistic picture. They don’t use their heads to think what colour matches with what colour anymore. Clients will ask for the photorealistic pictures.

Q: Did you have any small projects back in the UK when you were studying? A: Yes. I did had some projects in UK. But the projects were small scale. For example, small cottage, toilets and wash rooms, and more.

Q: What do you think about the projects in UK compared to in Malaysia? A: When i was still in the UK, there were some small projects such as building a small homestay cottage like in Malaysia. But the difference are the bricks in the wall. Because UK has 4 seasons, their walls are two bricks thick while in Malaysia, it is only one brick. And there is a gap between the two bricks for air(called cavity). In UK they don’t have toilets in every room but in Malaysia, we have toilets in every room.

Q: What are your advices to us as a professional architect? A: You can go to work part-time in an architect firm after foundation. Just to test out wether you like the job or not. You should ask lecturers or architects about how will you be a successful architect. They will judge you by your work.

Q&A

Special !anks To DPLUS Association

EDITORS• Alison Tang Ing Ee• Christina Chua Yi Mei• Chong Yi Hui• Boon Li Ying• Ch’ng Phei Woon

FNBE MARCH 2015