Spencer Wood
Architecture/Architecture (International) (RIBA Part 1) BA(Hons)
Local Culture and Community Centre, Melaka
The design is located within the city centre, in an area that is a crossroads for most of the surrounding ethnic settlements. The building will be home to many pieces of culturally significant displays such as local artwork, festive objects, cultural foods, and clothing. As well as supplying services that are difficult to find within the surrounding areas, such as board/ meeting rooms, IT suits with online library services and collective traditional food markets. This will offer something unique to the area but also in keeping with the overall theme of Melaka, that is culture and history.
The building will provide a place for different communities of Melaka to interact with one another, which they may not have done so readily beforehand. It is also a place for visitors to come and interact with the diverse local communities; as well as engage with their historical heritage and cultures through a variety of ways.
The hybrid constructional system entails two differing approaches, working together and contrasting with one another. The first being a modern concrete form that relates to its immediate context. The other being a traditional timber structure, that evokes the historical culture and architecture of the region.