Traditional Malay House Construction

How to preserve wooden materials f.
Traditional malay house construction. In its simplest form the traditional malay house is a structure raised on stilts high above the ground covered with thatched roofs enclosed with wooden walls and perforated with windows and lattices. Open plan concept is adopted providing good ventilation. The traditional malay houses are bamboo or timber houses raised on stilts timber. The size form and ornamentation of the houses depend on the size wealth and status of the family in the community.
The design approaches of the traditional malay house in conjunction with the needs of achieving good ventilation are summarized as follow. Usually the houses havepitched roofs verandahs or porches in front high ceilings and lots. Early malay houses can be described as raised on timber stilts and made of materials which were easily available from the tropical forests such as timber bamboo rattan tree roots and leaves. As the time passed by.
Kutai is a traditional type of malay house that is indigenous to perak. Materials and construction the traditional malay house relies for its strength on a complex jointing system made rigid by the use of timber wedges. Malay house architecture that evolves in function of cultural social economic and material changes. Hence the traditional malay houses are almost always raised on timber stilts or pile to elevate and protect the building from floods and also serve as a source of natural ventilation.
It is basically a post and lintel structure that has been designed as respond to natural factor like flood underground dampness and to have better air ventilation and view to surrounding. Traditional architectural forms such as tropically suited roofs and harmonious proportions with decorative elements are considered by traditionalists to still have relevance. The traditional malay house is a timber house raised on stilts. An architecture in which the structures the forms the building materials are determined by.
The existence of kutai house is since the 1800s hence the name kutai which means old or ancient. For traditional malay house the body level is the most vital area for ventilation for comfort. The building mostly is a post and lintel structure with timber or bamboo walls and a thatched gabled shape roof. Malay architecture is greatly affected by climate and weather.
There are always large openings on the sides of the building to providing good ventilation.