Molek House: Studio Bikin Architects evokes evergreen respite in a sleepy Titiwangsa quarter 

Secreted in an old Kuala Lumpur cul-de-sac, Molek House stands apart as a modern abode in a swathe of 20th-century homes. Reductive minimalist, tropical-brutalist, or palatially extravagant, the house isn’t. What it is, as interpreted by Studio Bikin Architects, is a highly domestic construct that contrives an architecture dedicated to practical living and lived-in comfort.   COMMUNAL SPACE The house replaces an original family dwelling, its molek moniker an alliteration of its philosophy and (un)coincidentally the name of its street. “They didn’t want a big house as they knew they needed to maintain it long term. That was clear from the very beginning,” says Studio Bikin director Adela Askandar. “What they did want was a big open kitchen, a master bedroom on the ground floor, their two daughters’ bedrooms upstairs, and a study. That was it.” This partiality avails itself the moment the entrance door opens. Breaking with convention, there is no living room in the immediacy, no armchairs and sofas to offer plush comfort. The architects have construed a deformalized space: the welcoming act is a huge marble kitchen…

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