Elica licks housing woes for poor — a ‘KitKotak’ home
KUCHING: Kuching- based property developer Bobby Ting is creating a foundation to deliver a unique housing solution to lowincome families.
“I decided to find a way of creating a CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme for Elica, which has a tangible and practical outcome for needy people,” said Ting.
Elica refers to his awardwinning Elica Property Group, which developed high- end residential and mixed commercial projects. In a statement yesterday, Ting promoted the idea involving the KitKotak house project.
‘ KitKotak’ is a combination of the words ‘kit’ and ‘kotak’. It means ‘ tiny box’, and it is his hope that this distinctive name will rapidly become linked to Elica’s unique CSR housing initiative.
It all began when Ting decided to collaborate with his wife, Shentel Lee-Ting, who is a talented graphic designer and a retail entrepreneur, in a number of highly successful fashion brands under ‘ The Playground’ banner.
The couple often sat down and discussed how best they could pool their abilities to ensure a successful outcome for their programme.
While working towards her design degree at UTS in Sydney, Lee was mentored by designer David Mackay, who had come to Australia after an international career working on a large variety of different design projects and who had most recently been developing a fresh approach to Aboriginal housing in the remote outback.
Ting and Lee decided to invite Mackay to join the Elica team. As soon as Mackay arrived in Kuching, he toured the area and met with local charity workers as well as possible manufacturers and suppliers.
“I was immediately struck by everyone’s enthusiasm and eagerness to contribute. The traditional Malaysian village community is a colourful, vibrant environment. This is something we plan to reflect in our final design outcome.
“We want each home to be a bright, happy space where each family can identify with it and take pride in. This has even included the creation of the project’s ‘quirky’ name and fun graphics!” Mackay said in the statement.
After considering several options, the team developed a freestanding, low- cost home designed around a repurposed 20- foot shipping container to materialise KitKotak.
“We are working towards a final design with two basic orientations depending on the site.” said Mackay.
The K2 plan will feature a long deck parallel to the length of the container with a large pitched roof over the basic box to provide shade, reduce heat and capture rainwater. The K1 is similar but is entered from one end and has a smaller square deck. This version will be specified for narrow blocks.
The homes are equipped with shower, toilet and basic kitchen areas.
There is a communal family area with a flat screen TV and space for seating and storage.
All the materials used have been chosen because they are hardwearing and easy to maintain.
“Speed of manufacture and installation are key issues for us,” says Ting.
“It is also vital that we can achieve a realistic production cost so that we can provide as many homes as possible. We hope to install the first K2 by the year- end and to roll out a further 10 by the end of 2017.”
Mackay said while visiting the state’s countryside, David noticed the industrious little ‘sparrows’ hopping around everywhere.
“We decided to make our mascot a cheeky little bird called KitKotak. We hope she will bring good fortune to these deserving families.”
Lee said, “Having visited and spoken with families living in make- shift wooden houses, we could see that there were a whole series of practical issues that led us to base our idea around a shipping container because it’s tough, watertight and highly adaptable.”
The KitKotak house will be delivered to its final location fully fitted out, ready to be connected to the basic services already positioned under its timber deck— this deck will also raise the home above the potential flood level.
I decided I will try to find a way of creating a CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme for Elica, which has a tangible and practical outcome for needy people. Bobby Ting, Kuching-based property developer