Reinventing The Shophouse: The Story Of Bakong Village
Bakong Village’s homes rethink the traditonal shophouse with a contemporary design touch.
ULS’ latest residential project, Bakong Village, aims to reinvent contemporary urban life by reimagining the traditional shophouse and creating cohesive communities. But, the story of Bakong Village goes back to 2017, when ULS’ founder Kim “Leang” Kean was sharing stories about growing up in Phnom Penh in the ‘80s and ‘90s with Corbett, who was then working on Factory Phnom Penh. They both agreed that—over the past 20 years—the shophouse had lost its way, and had not been updated for modern Cambodians.
Traditional shophouses in Phnom Penh.
Remembering the shophouse
The shophouse is a narrow building doubling up as both a business and residential space. The concept originated in China, where high density created a need to save space. In the 1950s, the trend swept across Southeast Asia, with varying styles across the region, from Thailand and Vietnam, to the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia. Leang warmly recalls playing with children in courtyards at the back of the row of shophouses, while neighbors spent lazy afternoons chatting. During the day, front doors were flung open for business and the upstairs was reserved as residential. However, rapid modernization throughout Cambodia made the traditional shophouse set up redundant in today’s urban hubs. Corbett Hix, ULS Community and Creative Director, said: “This traditional shophouse is being forced to function in ways it wasn’t designed for. The visual we see today is a family having dinner on the ground floor watching TV. They then move dishes and tables away, and back the car into the living room. The living-eating space is doing double duty as a car parking facility because the house wasn’t meant for it.”
Other modern-day challenges occur when shophouse owners rent upper levels for commercial activity. The majority of traditional layouts are designed with the upstairs only accessible via the ground floor. This leads to awkward entrances forced along side walls or via externally attached staircases. Owners desperately want to offer rentable units, but access is challenged. Layout changes sacrificed common spaces leading to weak connections between neighbors, compared to the open outdoor life Leang grew up with. To address these concerns, in 2016 Leang designed a new shophouse for ULS’ Urban Loft project. Key innovations included a width increase from 4 to 6 meters, adding more flexibility. Private rear access was also introduced, toenter upper floors without disrupting ground floor business. Depending on development, cars would get dedicated on-street or off-site parking, to prioritize pedestrians and enhance walkability. Constantly striving for new challenges, ULS decided to push the boundaries further. And in October 2017 launched its inaugural architectural competition, seeking innovative designs to adapt the traditional shophouse for modern-day Cambodia, while also taking back purpose and function.
In Cambodia the 4m x 15m, 2.5 (2 floors with a mezzanine) shophouses have been the standard for decades.
SHOPHOUSE TYPOLOGY
The humble shophouse was introduced to Cambodia in 1872 and has gone through only moderate changes since then. Present throughout China and Southeast Asia, in Cambodia it most often adheres to a 4 meters width. In Malaysia, Vietnam and other regional countries, this may be 5 or even wider. The 4 meters width is slightly more limited, and is further challenged by the increasing number of owners with cars. With limited public or private parking options, the key commercial space—or living room for residential uses—often becomes a very tight parking spot at night. Older shophouses often featured shared courtyard spaces in the back, where children could play, laundry was hung, and gossip and good news spread. Modern developments lack this shared space. This forces children to play in increasingly hazardous streets, or to not go outside at all. Owners today are constantly defying the layout, to sublet upper floors and maintain some privacy. Meanwhile, developers keep building using the same format, with little thought as to whether it is still appropriate for modern living.
THE SEARCH FOR THE NEW SHOPHOUSE
Bakong Village’s Project Manager Tony Sunly wanted to do things differently when he came on-board at ULS. In a bid to generate excitement about the project while tapping into local creative talent, ULS launched a competition to reinvent the shophouse. The brief was simple: come up with a design blueprint for ULS’ community-centric approach to property development, targeting modern Cambodian families. Further, such structures needed to shape interactions in the home as well as outside, encouraging neighbors to interact, and creating an environment where small businesses could thrive. As part of its people-driven approach, the brief stipulated public spaces and walkways should take precedence over vehicles, and the community focus should extend to an on-site school, market and central car park. To ensure the village retained a tranquil feel, a total of 50% of the space needed to be allocated to green and public space. Architects were also challenged to find an innovative way to connect the four plots of land, which were currently bisected by a 60-meter wide main road. ULS required firms to have at least 50% Khmer staff to ensure this would be a locally driven project. The response was very positive, with several local firms excited to work on such unique priorities compared to most briefs. Staying true to its policy of “no free work ban”, ULS also offered a modest fee to help offset the time designers spent preparing their pitch. Ultimately, five companies were selected to produce full proposals. Each presented in person to Leang, Corbett, Tony and two others. Judging was based on community design, overall innovation, aesthetic design and cost/feasibility. Two firms came in extremely close. Aerne Architects & Associates’ (AA&A) cutting-edge design took the top prize, and the full contract. In Q1 2018, the project broke ground. Tony said: “The design truly captured the essence of what we were looking for in terms of combining old Khmer architecture with a contemporary design touch, creating community space and ensuring neighbors share a common path, as well as the layout of their houses.” The shophouses incorporate 3-meter tall glass windows and doors that enable light to flood in, and allow indoor and outdoor space to flow freely. To open up the area further, the ground level is seamlessly split into two, creating different spaces between the kitchen and front area, with 3.2-meter high ceilings enhancing the loy feel. AA&A also took the bold move of proposing a centralized parking area and a striking pedestrian skypath to literally bridge residents together. An evaluation on how tenants would react to parking being forced into a shared garage ultimately led to understanding this was actually the best solution to reach community priorities.
“If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then the market is the heart of the village.”
An early render of the living-room and atrium of what would become the 6 meter wide “L” shophouse.
Reinventing modern-day living
With Bakong Village, ULS goes above and beyond reshaping the shophouse, building family-first communities and spaces shaped around interaction, socializing and modern convenience. Greenspace reduces stress and boosts mental and physical well-being, while providing children with a safe haven to play. The average greenspace in most urban developments is 30%. In contrast, Bakong Village features a total of 22 shared outdoor courtyards, with 7 km of walkways winding through shaded patches of grass and public land — almost half of the site is greenspace. Two styles of shophouses run along the development’s main streets. Both designs feature carefully-crafted layouts that put families at the heart of their home while enabling work and living space to exist cohesively. Catering to young couples, families and all those looking for multi-generational living options, Bakong Village comprises 245 villas of three varying styles.
In line with ULS’ community-orientated vision, every aspect of these spaces centers around social interaction. From shaded courtyards, grassed lawns, and built-in seating, to the market, school and innovative skybridge that connects the development—Bakong Village is built around and for its residents.
As part of its mission to create a safe, family-friendly neighborhood, Bakong Village is breaking down barriers literally and metaphorically. Unlike boreys, guarded by multiple security checkpoints, or fenced-off houses with barred windows, Bakong Village builds on the safety net cohesive communities create. While homes do feature bars on ground floor doors and windows, these mold into the aesthetic, looking more like visual features than security measures.
As Corbett Hix said: “Security measures like fences, bars on the window and several layers of security don’t communicate safety: they tell me the exact opposite. It’s blocking off interaction with neighbors, and there isn’t much common space to form relationships that build trust. We want architecture to help facilitate these relationships. This is something we put into the DNA of our projects. If you live in Bakong Village, we want you to know the names of your neighbors’ children, be referred to as Aunty or Uncle, and be invited to birthday parties.”
Render of Bakong Village Market.
VILLAGE LIFE
If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then the market is the heart of the village. Located within a few-minute stroll to all of the homes, the modern wet and dry market will house 60 stalls and serve as a place to buy rice, fresh fish and vegetables for dinner, meet up with friends for an iced coffee, grab a bowl of noodles with neighbors. A beating pulse for the Bakong Village community.
Adding to the ease, the market sits on the ground floor of a five-story centralized carpark for 391 cars and 357 motorbikes. Centralized parking enables the plans to include zoned residential areas that are 100% pedestrian thus creating a safe environment for children to enjoy the outdoors, with peace of mind for their parents.
The market and car park are connected to the rest of the village via meandering walkways and an innovative skybridge. As Siem Reap’s first pedestrian skybridge, its creative design is slated to make it an iconic presence within the city’s landscape. The wide, open-air bridge is also dotted with greenspaces and seating, making it another of the village’s highlights.
Completing the list of community assets is the on-site school, catering kindergarten through to Grade 6. Ensuring friendships are forged over a game of football or a picnic on the grass, the central courtyard will be used as public space and remain open to residents in evenings and weekends.
Community forward
It’s taken a while from the first conversation about shophouses to where ULS is today. While many developments may move faster, ULS chose to take big chances with Bakong Village: pedestrian priority, community first, smaller units, walkability, and a completely new architecture requiring rethinking the building approach. All these ideas took time to finesse and plan.
As of May 2020, Bakong Village is currently 40% constructed and the feedback has been positive. The most rewarding experience so far was to see a second generation of a family buy a home, adjacent to their parents. Now, when the young couple wants a night without their children, they can ask the grandparents who live 10 meters away. Even more convenient than in the old village.
More information at:
https://www.urbanlivingsolutions.com/
Name and Identity
Nataly Lee of Saat Studio who led the branding of Bakong Village.
An early concept for Bakong Village prior to changing to Khmer.
Final logo mark for Bakong Village, incorporating the Khmer wording for the project’s name.
Once the final design was selected, the project moved from early concept into full design and as pieces started to come together, so did the need for a name. Development had moved well beyond the initial shophouse concept, and now contained smaller individual link homes, a school, a garage, a market. It truly was a small village. Hence, the team decided to adopt the location name, and call it Bakong Village.
ULS worked on branding with Ms. Nataly Lee of Saat Studio who had previously designed the visual identities of Factory Phnom Penh, Urban Loft, Urban Village, and even Urban Living Solutions itself. However here, the first concepts felt a bit off. This project— more than all the others—was about looking backward and forward at the same time. It was a project meant primarily for Cambodians living in Siem Reap.
Then, Leang and Nataly had the idea of referencing the old, hand painted signs that used to be ubiquitous throughout the country. And the entire team came to realize that yes, this project name should be written using the Khmer alphabet.
With this essential pivot, the design moved forward with ease. Eventually producing the final identity which references both the hand painted signs of the past, and the intentionally modern design of the homes.