Undivided Duality

Slicing through a sedate suburban hollow is a multigenerational home of sharp, intrepid architecture.

- Nizar Musa

The fringes of northern Damansara have for decades been a residential domain for Malaysian who’s who. Along winding tree-lined arteries, sizeable bungalows and residences sit side by side with a pomp interestingly bereft, for most, of design zest one might expect in these prime neighbourhoods. Cue House 12A by DCA Plus, one of but a handful of exceptional abodes in the vicinity, whose bet on non-conformity has paid off in more ways than one.

character personified

Some neck craning is required for a first look, the house obscured by foliage and boundary wall. Past those, you will find opposing vertical inclines of off-form concrete and fibre-cement panels, more Tokyo-urban than Kuala Lumpur-metropolitan, that evoke a visceral response. Through light and shadow, the trapezoidal grey-toned elevation becomes a dynamic element, having a quasi-Japanese aesthetic that feels neither derivative nor asynchronous to place and climate when seen up close.