Meet the Architects

The first step to own a bungalow, is to design one.
The architect needs to gather your requirement, put it into a plan & submit to authority. Easy enough, rite? Hmm not quite.

My initial plan was to have a nice small bungalow. The built up should be more or less around 3000sf. And for phase 2, maybe in 5-10 years time expand it to 5000sf or more, konon2 time tu dah banyak duit haha. I tried to simplify the design process by choosing a sample from the internet. I came across Neuhomes website, it hosted a number of bungalow designs. And the Villa Impian design suits my requirement.












Architect #1 KCYS (Feb - Mar 2009)
The bungalow land transaction was completed when my family & I were still in UK. I think it was around Jan or Feb 2009. My thinking was as we would be back in KL in Sept - by that time, I hoped to have the plan approved & the house ready for construction. The Villa Impian design seemed simple enough, though wifekins thought it was very 'plain' & looked like a terrace than a bungalow. But because we were budget-constraint, I wanted to try anything possible to reduce the architect fees & of course, the cost of construction.

Mr Wong is a family friend & a trustworthy contractor. I told him about my bungalow project & that I needed an architect. He recommended a friend of him, Leong from KCYS. From the corporate website, I got to know that the firm focus mostly on commercial & condominium projects. We communicated thru emails & I showed her the Villa Impian design. After discussing with Mr Wong, she reverted back that it IS possible to construct that kind of a house for a budget of 300K. But, its exclusive of the architect fees & only using standard basic finishing. Fair enough. A week later, she sent me her quotation. The total fees alone was 68K.

68K?? That's more than 20% of the house cost! I told her frankly that I expected the fees to be much lower than that. And bear in mind, we were gonna use a design template from Neuhomes. Not designing from scratch. I don't blame her nor the firm. They have their standards. As for me, I need to scout for an architect. An affordable one.
And I've decided not to use the Villa Impian design. It doesn't make any difference cost-wise.


Architect #2 PAC (Oct 09 - Feb 10)
Is there an award for Architect from Hell?

He's a freelance architect. The first encounter was a pleasant one and the second, when he showed us the proposed layout - i was really impressed. And he only charged 30K for the fees. After agreeing the terms, we paid the 10%. Thats when the problem starts.

He didn't show up for the next meeting. I waited n waited. He didn't reply my sms or answer my calls. After a week or so, he called me up & told me he got knocked down on that particular day & during the accident, his hp got stolen. Ok, whatever. We set for another appointment.
He came with a 3D design & it looked awful. I told him I wanted to see improvements on the next meeting. Next meeting was canceled the very last minute, reason - makcik sakit kene balik Penang. And then he cancelled again, reason - maid problem, family problem bla bla. He promised to email the updated design the following week, but noneeee. He didn't answer my calls and after a month - i sent him an sms "Please send me the design by tonite. Else, I have no choice but to terminate you". And no - i didn't get the design that night.

I got his email the next morning with a screwed up design. And few minutes later, got his sms "I dah email smalam. Cuba check.".
I replied him back "Please stop with the lying. I know u just emailed me the design. It wasn't last nite. I'm an IT consultant, I'm not stupid. And the design is all wrong, even the orientation is terbalik. I made a mistake by appointing u."

Never heard of him since.


Architect #3 RAM Architects (Mar 10 - Present)
The PAM website contains a large database of architect firms in Malaysia. It lists down the firms contact person & details. Majority have their own websites where you can view the portfolios. I studied the companies & contacted those who are specialized in bungalow projects. I have also increased my budget from 300K to 400K, to allow more flexibility in the design.

I contacted (mostly by email) more than 20 firms. I got less than 5 replies.
The first 3 told me that its quite impossible to do a bungalow with that kind of budget.
The fourth, was actually the Architect of Neuhomes. I was invited by one of the associates, Ken to his office in Mont Kiara. Coincidentally, he proposed the 'Villa Impiana' design, which according to him, the only design that suits my budget.

The fifth, was Jasmadi, a senior associate from RAM Architects. He invited me over for a meeting at his place in Shah Alam. He took time to explain the process, the options, materials used & what can be achieved with the said budget. As for the fees, they only charge 10% out of total housing cost. And 8% if I appoint them as contractor.

The first week was fruitful. Few days after our first meeting, they went over to the site for survey. The following week, they presented some options on layout which were impressive. After more than a month, the layout is nearing the final stage.
Alhamdulillah :)