The buildings are designed to appear as boats, sailing on the lake.

The top floor of each building is designed as a leisure area.

Natural ventilation helps reduce the cooling load of the air-conditioning system.

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Sailing to sustainability

James Boley investigates a sustainable housing development in Malaysia from Studio Nicoletti Associati.

Talk of sustainability in architecture evokes images of LEED, Masdar City, and 'green' initiatives in the UAE and USA.
In such a climate, it is easy to forget that sustainable development needs to transcend national boundaries and that initiative to reduce carbon emissions need to be made across the world.

Yet, some 5,500km away from the headline-hitting Masdar City, an Italian architect is helping a new residential complex lead the way for sustainable development in Southeast Asia.

Putrajaya, a city located 30km to the south of Kuala Lumpur, was built in 1995 to become the new administrative capital of Malaysia.

Recently, Rome-based architects Studio Nicoletti Associati won a competition to design Precinct 4, a new residential estate for the garden city, which was inspired by local culture and landscape, as well as the increasing global demand for environmentally sound designs.

A unique location

Putrajaya itself forms an interesting canvas on which to build.

The city was formed by flooding a palm plantation to create an artificial lake with several islands.

It was from this lakeside landscape that architect Manfredi Nicoletti drew inspiration for the design of Precinct 4.

"Designing an iconic residential development for Putrajaya requires a rethink to what makes Putrajaya unique in the context to the world," says Nicoletti.

"The building should have a uniqueness that tells of its place of origin which is culturally modern, Islamic and tropical in nature."

"This group of houses is on the artificial lake, so we conceived a complex of elements like a fleet, each one inspired by a boat," explains Nicoletti.

The eight buildings that make up the housing complex resemble the sails of ships at sea.

Similarly, each level of the sail-shaped buildings is designed to mimic the deck of a ship.

The structural frame is a series of double-pillars linked to each other at the summit, similar to the transversal frames of a boat.

The double-pillars create an ogival shape, which converge on the line of the 'keel' at the summit.

Islamic design elements were also included to appeal to Middle Eastern and Asian investors.

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