Yasser Arab

Thermal surface analysis on high-rise building façades with neo-minimalist and modern style in Penang, Malaysia

This research analyzed the facade thermal performance of high-rise buildings with modern and neo-minimalist architectural style. Four high-rise apartment buildings in Penang Island are selected as case studies for this research. The modern architectural style, which was popular during the 1970s to 1990s, nearly disregarded the cultural identity of the country and used the basic geometric shapes in the design. Conversely, the neo-minimalist style is the popular style from the 2010s up to the present. This style is a result of the “less is more” concept, which means using minimal applications to obtain an efficient design. The four selected case studies are as follows: Halaman Kristal 2 and Mutiara Idaman 1 with modern architectural style and Light Linear and Baystar apartments with neo-minimalist style. The research uses Fluke Ti20 thermal imager to capture thermal images of the west facade of the selected case studies on an hourly basis from 12:00 to 6:00 P.M. on March 15, 2017. Results confirm that the n...

Shading Performance on Terraced House Facade Designs in Malaysia

This study analyses shading performance on front house facades in Malaysia designed with early, modern, postmodern and neo-minimalist architectural style. For the case study, four front facades of the terraced houses are selected. The reason for the selection of terraced houses as the case studies is that terraced houses are the most popular house type built in urban areas in this country. The Early Modern Terraced House Style was built in 1950s to 1970s, and Modern Terraced House Style was popularly built later in 1980s to 1990s. Postmodern Terraced House Style was commonly integrated in the building design in 2000s while the Neo-Minimalist Terraced House Style has been integrated in the house design since 2010. The selected case studies are located in Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya and Shah Alam, the new towns of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. The SunTool software is used in the survey to calculate shading percentages on the front house facades. The survey will be conducted at a position when the sun path is perpendicular to the house facade. The study finds that the shading performance is improving over time. Recessed wall, balcony, attached roof and roof overhang are commonly used in the house facade design with car porch on the ground facade level.