The corner of Kuching GPO and Carpenter street

 This is one of my favourite places in town; the Kuching General Post Office located at the corner of Carpenter Street and Jalan Tun Haji Openg. This building of architectural significance was designed  by Denis Santry of the architectural firm of Swan and McClaren in Singapore and was completed
in 1932. It served as a police station and stables for the white rulers before assuming its role as the General Post Office for Kuching. Other significant buildings in the vicinity include the Pavilion which house the textiles museum and the Round Tower; recently dwarfed by the insensitive and unimaginative insertion of a massive commercial complex next to the Pavilion , facing the GPO.

 

November Sketch Crawl

These are two sketches done during the recent sketch crawl, of the Brooke Dockyard at the end of Jalan Gambier. It was been de-commisioned for some years now but architecturally and structurally it is still imposing - I would love to be able to get inside to sketch and photograph it.

 

Recycled Timber Bench

This is my sketch of the day describing an idea to use re-cycled eaves ceiling timber for a bench at the end of the patio. For some of our smaller projects, the communication is quite informal and the contractor and client would review this and give their comments on whether to proceed (client) or to propose amendments (contractor).

48th Birthday

This year, the Penang Bridge Run coincided with my birthday so I started the day in my favourite way; a 21-KM run with 30,000 people. 

Sam and I were nursing injuries so we had to walk to 21 but if we had run, we would not heard the kitten mewing at KM 17 and Sam would not have hurdled two highway dividers to rescue the little bugger. 

Sam walked the last 4 K with the kitten mewing loudly (hungry, not scared) in her running vest. It would have made a good birthday present but it would have been impossible to bring it into Sarawak. 

It now resides on the USM campus.

Sam and I (and the kitten) about to cross the finish line

Duomo Siena

I started this sketch standing in between the striped column bays of Siena's Duomo (also known as Santa Maria de Assunta) - and now as I put on the final touches, it seems surreal that two months ago we were in Italy visiting the buildings that I have only ever encountered in books and lectures. I started so many sketches that I am still discovering them in my sketchbook; prolonging the enjoyment of my first trip to Europe.

Garden Studio

Recently Sam and I decided to set up a small studio to teach architectural drawing; a dying trade in our part of the world. So I decided to make use of a small portion of our garden for a studio.

The drawings for this project are done when there is time in between work and play and between projects and tutorials. I am showing them here to demonstrate to our students friends that the design process does not stop after the project goes on site, nor do the drawings need to confirm to conventional paper size and draughting techniques such as CAD.

The butter paper sketches were for the aluminum and glazing contractor to use as a reference to measure up on-site and order the material and products required.

The other drawing is a 'parallel projection' of a SketchUp section for me to add details for the steel fabricator to understand how I want to install the Breezeway louvre windows. I am installing them vertically and up close against the brick lace wall. I find it easier to add the enlarged details by hand.

It is not neat and pretty, but it does not have to be for things to work.

 

This is a view of the study just below the apex of the roof; I imagine a loft with a spare bed would fit in well. The washing facilities are at the far end; I plan to put in a small cooker for coffee and such.

The floor screed goes in early next week after that the glazing and plumbing.

Kuching October Sketch Crawl

This Month's sketch crawl is in conjunction with a walking tour organised by the local Architect's Institute to welcome delegates to the ICOGrada Graphic Design International Conference in Kuching.

image courtesy of the VirtualTourist

We started at the Court House with Peggy in charge, which left me with plenty more time to sketch; even taking stage by stage photos (with Sean's help) to show how to frame first and add details later.