The Suitability of Adaptive Reuse Practices on Historic Residential Buildings to National Memorials

Abstract

In order to prolong the life of the old buildings in the country through building conservation practices, there is a tendency by the government to acquire and reuse Malaysian leadership figures’ residential buildings as memorials. However, it raises the question of whether there is any adaptive reuse guidelines to reuse historic residential buildings in Malaysia as national memorials in maintaining those buildings as an exhibition space on the history of their leadership. The absence of guidelines raises questions about how to implement the process accordingly. The objective of this research is to find the best formula for reusing historic residential buildings as national memorials based on that issue by reviewing and identify the principles of adaptive reuse practices of historic residential buildings as national memorials that implemented in Malaysia. The case studies were conducted on three samples of historic residential buildings that reused as national memorials and those buildings were selected based on a list of the study population, which are Rumah Kelahiran Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (The Birthplace of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad), Rumah Merdeka (Freedom House) and Memorial Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba (The Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba Memorial). The sample may be determined by the sampling method and evaluated using the checklist provided. Based on the results of the case studies that were analyzed and discussed, it can be concluded that aspects of building code (local) requirements as well as environmental and conservation requirements are not met in implementing adaptive reuse process on historic residential buildings to national memorials which needs suggestions for improvement.

Keywords

• suitability
• building conservation
• adaptive reuse
• residence
• memorial