This document outlines a proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Mingle Shop House located in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. It begins with an acknowledgement and historical background sections describing the origins and evolution of Petaling Street and the building. Drawings of the site plan and floor plans are included. The proposal is to convert the heritage hostel into a local gallery. The ground floor cafe would remain while the courtyard would showcase local arts. The first floor would be adapted to attract visitors and tourists by displaying the locality and identity of Petaling Street through a local gallery. The proposal aims to preserve original elements of the building while injecting new uses to attract more public interest.

1. ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION (ARC60703)
Assignment 2
PROPOSAL FOR ADAPTIVE REUSE
STUDENT NAME :
NG HONG BIN 0319735
NIK AFIQ AMADI 0317749
LOW CHI YIN 0329147
JACINTA KABRINA MAJALAP 0311339
SONG SUNG HO 0322100
KESHNI DEVI SOBARUN 0323062
TG NABILAH DIYANA 0325657
TUTOR :
MR AZIM SULAIMAN

2. TABLE OF CONTENT
1.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
2.0 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 PETALING STREET
2.2 MINGLE KUALA LUMPUR
3.0 DRAWINGS
3.1 SITE PLAN
3.2 FLOOR PLANS
4.0 ARCHITECTURAL STYLE & ELEMENTS
4.1 EVOLUTION OF SHOP HOUSE
4.2 DESIGN ELEMENTS
5.0 DILAPIDATION SURVEY
6.0 ADAPTIVE REUSE PROPOSAL - HERITAGE HOSTEL INTO LOCAL GALLERY
6.1 BEFORE & AFTER
6.2 SPATIAL PLANNING BEFORE & AFTER
6.3 MATERIALITY
7.0 CONCLUSION

3. 1.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to formally recognize and thank those responsible for this completion of this project
due to which we have a deeper understanding about architecture conservation. We are also able to
understand more about architecture and history of Mingle Kuala Lumpur.
We would like to express our utmost gratitude to our lecturer, Mr Azim Sulaiman, for being so
committed to educate and guide us throughout the learning process. We also would like to thank the owner
and the staff of the Mingle Shop House for providing and sharing information with us as well as providing us
better understanding of the building and its history. Many hands make light work. We as a group were also
being so accommodating and corporating with each other in order to accomplish this assignment.
1. NG HONG BIN 0319735
2. NIK AFIQ AMADI 0317749
3. LOW CHI YIN 0329147
4. JACINTA KABRINA MAJALAP 0311339
5. SONG SUNG HO 0322100
6. KESHNI DEVI SOBARUN 0323062
7. TG NABILAH DIYANA 0325657

4. 2.0 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 PETALING STREET
Petaling street, also known as Chinatown in Kuala
Lumpur, is one of the oldest heritage street left in the
heart of the city, in the golden triangle of Kuala
Lumpur.
Petaling street was first started up by Raja Abdullah who
brought many Chinese labours from Lukut. Negeri
Sembilan and Perak for tin mining. During that time, area
along Petaling Street, Jalan Sultan and Jalan Tun HS Lee
were populated concentratedly by Chinese who do
trading and tin mining. As the time goes, it slowly it was
named as the Chinatown as we all know in present.
In 1870, the Selangor Civil War or Klang war (1867to
1974) broke out between the Chinese community. During
this Selangor Civil War, the tin mines were left
abandoned which lead the tin mines to be flooded.
When the war was over, miners returned after the war,
but what they found were the mines with full of water
which was unable to obtain tins anymore from the site
due to the flood.

5. When tin mining activities were affected by the Civil War, the
Chinese third captain, Mr. Yap Ah Loy had changed this area
from tin mining activities into agricultural. He managed to
persuade the miners and whoever related to the mining
industry to remain in Kuala Lumpur and to grow rice and
other agricultural products. Furthermore, he built and
opened a large Tapioca Mill in the Petaling Street which
provided jobs to the locals. Only then, the Petaling Street was
called as ‘Chee Cheong Kai’ with a meaning of Starch Factory
Street in Cantonese. Shop houses were built as residential
and business uses. Past days, business was managed by
Chinese but mostly foreign workers were hired in present
days.
In 2003, a green roof and the green dragon with two Chinese
styled arches are added in both end of the street and so it
had made Petaling Street a roofed pedestrian street which
made the street even more unique and also provide comfort
factors for the users, pedestrians and the tourists. The
activities here started from early morning till late midnight.

6. 2.2 MINGLE KUALA LUMPUR
Mingle and Leaf & Co is located around the Petaling
Street opposite of Chinese Drama Associations and
still has the unique characteristics of a colonial era
architecture with. By a congested corner of Jalan
Sultan (opposite distinguished tailors Kwong Fook
Wing) lies the newest café this side of KL – Leaf & Co.
Formerly a mess hall built by Kwong Yik Bank’s co-
founder Cheong Yoke Choy, the century-old colonial-
era heritage building is now a boutique hostel (by the
name of Mingle) and café, co-founded by engineer
Ng Sin Leong. With Ng’s experience in restoring and
refurbishing old buildings, it’s evident that attention
and care was paid to this particular building as well –
old wooden beams are reinforced, pieces of original
furniture from the building’s early days are scattered
around, and the terrazzo tiles are cleaned and
spruced up. In the café, an air well in the centre lets in
light for the small garden of potted herbs.

7. As we have interviewed the workers of the Mingle and
Leaf& Co, we have found out that it used to be a
Chinese Drama Associations long time back but
couldn’t not gather anymore further information
through interviews and research regarding it but we
have found out that the Leaf & Co was actually a
pharmacy most recently. Furthermore, private group
called ‘GOOD VOYAGER GOLDING SDN BHD’ bought
the property and developed into a new heritage hostel
named Mingle Kuala Lumpur, with an in-house cafe
called Leaf & Co.

8. 3.0 DRAWINGS
3.1 SITE PLAN NTS

9. 3.2 FLOOR PLANS

10. 4.0 ARCHITECTURAL STYLE & ELEMENTS
4.1 EVOLUTION OF SHOP HOUSE
1| Southern 2| Early Straits 3|Late Straits 4|Art Deco 5| Modern Style
Chinese Style Eclectic style Eclectic style Shop house
1840-1900s
Physical
Appearance:
• 2-3 storeys
• Decorative
façade
Chinese influence:
carved timber door,
air vents, gable end,
air well
European & Indian
Influence: Louvered
shutters, terracotta
tiles
1890-1910s
Physical Appearance:
• 2-3 storeys
• Decorative façade
Chinese influence:
carved timber door,
air vents, gable end,
air well
European influence:
Full-length windows,
geometric patterned
floor tiles
1910-1930s
Physical Appearance:
• 2-3 storeys
• Decorative façade
Chinese influence:
carved timber door,
air vents, gable end,
air well
European influence:
Full-length windows,
pilasters, arches,
geometric patterned
floor
1930-1960s
Physical
Appearance:
• 2-3 storeys
European influence:
Art deco façade
with geometric
design bolding
vertical & horizontal
lines
• Shanghai plaster
wall finishing
• Flagpole and
relief writing on
the wall
1950-1970s
Physical
Appearance:
• 2-3 storeys
• Simplification
of form &
design based
on availability
of new
technologies
• Sunshade fins,
metal-framed
glass windows

11. 4.2 DESIGN ELEMENTS
Multipurpose
• By the name shop house, the building is
meant to lodge a shop and a residential
space.
• The residential spaces are meant to engage
more than one family.
• These spaces are usually located above the
shop.
Narrow fronts, deep rear
• The building is narrow on the façade and is
deep in width.
• Various reasons such as taxes to be paid for
construction in front of the street, structural
• building materials, timber beams, that
carried the load of the roof were what
fostered this design style.

12. Five Foot Way
• Along the boundary of the shop house, a
balcony of five foot-way is included as a
protection from rain and sun.
• Abiding to the British laws the verandah should
be at least seven feet long and the passage
within the veranda is at least five feet long.
Ornamentation
• Neo-classical pilasters are used on the façade.
• It is an element that appears to be projecting
from the wall.
• It can be of ionic or Corinthian style.
• The ornamentation used in Mingle shop house
is the Corinthian style.

13. Internal Courtyard
• The vital part of a shop house is the courtyard
for ventilation and natural light from the sky.
• The activities within the courtyard may vary.
Party walls
• During the pre-colonial times in Southeast Asia,
the structure walls changed from traditional
timber frame to baked clay bricks.
• These traditional clay brick walls separate the
building from the neighbouring one.

14. 5.0 DILAPIDATION SURVEY

19. DILAPIDATION SURVEY LOCATION INDICATION
LEGEND

20. • Two storey shop house on a corner of Chinatown,
located at Petaling Street. It is actually a new
heritage hostel named Mingle Kuala Lumpur, with
an in-house café called Leaf & Co.
• However, due to the gradual incline, this old town
slowly loses the attention of the public who would
come for visits even a lot of preservation works
have been made.
• This building basically has a rich heritage value,
shown by its unique architectural elements and its
cultural context.
• Thus, it is a good case to be studied on and to be
adaptive reused for a better purpose and a better
future.
6.0 ADAPTIVE REUSE PROPOSAL - HERITAGE HOSTEL INTO LOCAL GALLERY
6.1 BEFORE & AFTER
BEFORE

21. • Our intention is to inject new elements while
preserving the original beauty.
• For the ground floor, we would still preserve it and
remains as café because we believe that by having a
café, it already provides attraction for the visitors to
come to this building.
• The only proposal we would like to make is just by
adding an air-conditioned room.
• The courtyard is also used to showcase their
talents.
• As for the first floor, we emphasize on attracting the
public and tourists to stop by and creating a local
gallery which showcases the locality and identity of
Petaling Street.
AFTER

22. On the ground floor, the present cafeteria is preserved. The Leaf & Co cafeteria is one of the tourist
attractions and hot spots for coffee lovers in Petaling Street and hence, it cannot be demolished. The main spaces
are divided into two which is the cafeteria at the front and an open courtyard in the middle. At the moment, the
open courtyard appears to be an initialized semi-open public space. Restoring a heritage building is not merely
about having a dream, but taking action too.
To make full use of it, we engage the local arts communities by showcasing their talents such as
street art performance, displaying local arts and crafts and even some mini events can be held occasionally. By
implementing this idea, it tends to introduce and display the locality and identity of Petaling Street to the public
as well as attract more tourists which relatively boost the economics of the building. As it is said ‘killing two birds
with one stone’. In addition, air-conditioned indoor cafe is introduced instead of outdoor cafe to provide cozy
and comfortable environment and attract public to have a short visit after a long day staying under the hot
weather. The staircase at the entrance is kept to provide ease access to the first floor.
6.2 SPATIAL PLANNING BEFORE & AFTER
GROUND FLOOR

24. • Air-conditioned indoor cafe is introduced instead of
outdoor cafe to provide cozy and comfortable
environment and attract public to have a short visit
after a long day staying under the hot weather
• The staircase at
the entrance is
kept to provide
ease access to the
first floor.
• Showcasing their talents such as street art performance, displaying
local arts and crafts and even some mini events can be held
occasionally. By implementing this idea, it tends to introduce and
display the locality and identity of Petaling Street to the public as
well as attract more tourists which relatively boost the economics
of the building.

25. The first floor emphasizes on attracting the public and tourists to stop by and appreciate the gallery
which showcases the locality and identity of Petaling Street. Nowadays, Petaling Street has become one of the
remarkable landmarks and iconic areas for the locals and even the outsiders. It's often crowded as tourists
frequently visit here for different purposes such as shopping, eating, strolling etc. However, at the moment, the
site lacks of an element which can display its identity, vibrancy and cultural value of it. By injecting the gallery in
the shop house, people are able to acknowledge and appreciate the value of Petaling Street.
On the other hand, as the first floor space is limited, it's unable to cater a big group of people.
Majority of tourists stay in the hostel temporarily instead of staying long term and most of the time, the hostels
are usually vacant, which might be an issue for the heritage shop house. To counteract this issue and to boost the
economics of the building, we converted the accommodation into the Petaling Street gallery which has the
potential to attract more tourists.
The history and origin gallery frames old photos and showcases the morphological transformation
of Petaling Street into the well-known cultural rich landmark we know today. Furthermore, the arts and craft
gallery exhibits local fine arts, sculpture, fabric, etc. which can display the value and locality for the public to
experience. The literary section and computer lounge are implemented to provide extra knowledge for the public
as well as to allow the exchange of ideas and thoughts. Knowledge is good to be shared so it will always be
remembered and valued. A souvenir section is designed for visitors to bring back a piece of memory to be
remembered.
FIRST FLOOR

27. • Provides extra
knowledge for the
public as well as to
allow the
exchange of ideas
and thoughts.
• Frames old photos and showcases the
morphological transformation of
Petaling Street into the well-known
cultural rich landmark
• Designed for visitors to bring back a piece
of memory to be remembered.
• Exhibits local fine arts, sculpture, fabric, etc.
which can display the value and locality for
the public to experience

28. The present cafeteria, The Leaf & Co. is preserved as due to it is one of the tourism attraction in town. In
making of injecting the new element to the building, the interior part of the building will renovated by
introducing rustic style into it. Meanwhile, the exterior part will be remain the same with as old with repaired
works. It is to preserve the history of it but at the same time provide more function in it.
The materials chosen for ground Floor are raw concrete floor, same goes as the interior wall of the building.
Timber flooring will also be using on verandah way of the building, first floor flooring as well as at staircases.
Even with the replacing new building materials in the building, some of the unique features will be remain as the
same as it had witness the history of the building: the vent-block wall that located at air well and the newspaper
wall that located at first floor level had been preserved. Green wall had also been introduced in the corridor of
first floor to add in more greenery scene.
6.3 MATERIALITIES

29. GROUND FLOOR

30. FIRST FLOOR

31. 7.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, by injecting new elements while preserving the original beauty, it tends to revitalize
and provides a new look for the century-old colonial-era heritage. Restoring a heritage building is not merely
about having a dream, but taking action too. By acting as a mixed-function complex, the new heritage shop
house with an in-house cafe, the gallery showcases identity of Petaling Street, open air well courtyard design
engages local community etc, it has potential to become a tourist hot spot in the future.
“It has been said that, at it’s best,
preservation engages the past in a
conversation with the present over a
mutual concern for the future.”
- William Murtagh