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Coliseum

Theatre

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COLISEUM

School of Architecture and built environment

Infrastructure University

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COLISEUM

Theatre

Mohamed Hassaan

Muaz Mohamed Rasheed

Afiq Junaidy

Ahmed Mustafa Kamel

School of Architecture and built environment

Infrastructure University Kua la L umpur , Malaysia

Copy right 2013

This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any

form, by any means, without written permission from

exception of brief excerpts for purp

review. All rights, including the right of translat ion, are reserved.

Printed in Malaysia

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This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any

form, by any means, without written permission from this publisher

exception of brief excerpts for purposes of radio, television, or published

review. All rights, including the right of translat ion, are reserved.

This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any

this publisher, with the

oses of radio, television, or published

review. All rights, including the right of translat ion, are reserved.

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AGKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Contents

INTRODUCTION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

LOCATION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

OF THE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

COLISEUM THEATRE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

BACKGROUND ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

OF THE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

BUILDING ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

USE OF THE BUILDING ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

PAST AND PRESENT ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

STRUCTURE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

ROOF ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

PARAPET WALL ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

COLUMNS ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

LOAD BEARING WALL ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

ARCHITECTURE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

HIERARCHY ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

SYMMETRY ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

TRANSFORMATION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

REPETITION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

INTERIOR SPACES.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ticket Booth .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

THEATRE ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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INTRODUCTION

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C H A P T E R 1

LOCATION

OF THE

COLISEUM THEATRE

KL INTRO

AREA INTRO

CONTEXT

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C H A P T E R 2

BACKGROUND

OF THE

BUILDING

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Coliseum Theatre, one of Malaysia’s

famous landmarks, built in 1920 it is the

oldest continuously running cinema in the

country.

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This building was built by Chua

Cheng Bok, a well-known Chinese

businessman and property

developer, who eventually leased i t

to a group of gentlemen who

opened this cinema in 1921.

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I t was constructed with thick load bearing walls and a double hip roof. The

building was then considered one of the coolest places in town quite li terally,

with its numerous fans and ventilation. There are wide veranda’s upstairs,

with balcony seats and private boxes tastefully fit ted with separate fans and

lights, to cater to well-off patrons’ comfort.

I t was one of the first few buildings in Southeast Asia to have safety designs

such as emergency l ighting and fire prevention systems.

Also, state of the art ventilation grills and exhaust fans enhance air

circulation.

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USE OF THE BUILDING

The building is capable of seating 900 people. Step ramp is provided on the

first level, but is not in ground floor. Since opened in 1921 this building is

used as a theatre. In 30s the building was used to see bangsawan or Malay

opera performed by local troupes. However, since the 1940s the cinema

played Hindi, Malay and also Indonesian films.

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PAST AND PRESENT

The Coliseum was built in the late

1920's and is still open to this day. The

Art deco style theatre, with a multitude

of columns, shows mostly Indian (Tamil

and Hindi dialects of the Indian

language). I t is now privately owned by

a doctor, and has been gazette by the

government to be preserved.

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After the passing away of Chua Cheng Bok, the Coliseum Theatre passed into

the hands of his descendants.

In 2006, the Malaysian government attempted to take over it and turn it into a

cultural heritage centre. The idea was met with public opposition which

forced the government to relent.

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C H A P T E R 3

STRUCTURE

ROOF

The roof in this building is a hip roof, with a double inverted truss system.

The material used in the roof is clay tiles. A hip roof is the kind in which all

sides of its roofing slope downwards towards the walls of the building. The

hip itself is the angle at which the slopes of the roofing meet, and the degree

of this angle is called the hip bevel. The triangular slopes that meet the

rectangular ones at the roof’s ridge are known as the hip ends, which are

bound by the hips themselves.

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The hip roof in this building was doubled. I t had a

ventilation system between them. This system is

assumed to be a stack ventilation system. Since the

old building does not have electrical HVAC system.

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At present a ceiling is constructed, due to the instalment of the HVAC

system. This was done when the building went under the major renovation in

year 2001.

There is a slab on top of the building where we could walk and see the roof

easily. But it was not easily accessible.

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PARAPET WALL

A parapet wall is built on three sides of the boundary wall of the building.

All the parapet walls were constructed with capping and drip edges, to avoid

moisture penetration.

A parapet wall is a low wall, usually enclosing a roof, or a protective barrier

at the edge of a terrace or on the side of a bridge.

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In modern use, a parapet wall is constructed to provide a barrier to prevent

people or objects from falling from the edge of the structure and to slow the

spread of fire; in earlier times, parapet walls 21were built to afford some

protection for rooftop defenders of a structure, such as a castle or city walls,

under attack.

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But in this building most likely the parapet wall was built to hide the roof to

the front façades of the building. The rear façades do not contain a parapet

wall, and is extended beyond the boundary walls.

COLUMNS

The columns on the building façades are most l ikely made from concrete.

Other than just carrying the load and holding the structure of the building,

the repetition of these columns give a dramatic feeling to the façade. Due to

the columns without purring a wall makes the corridor ventilated 100%

naturally.

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LOAD BEARING WALL

A load-bearing wall (or bearing wall) is a wall that bears a load resting upon

it by conducting its weight to a foundation structure. The materials most

often used to construct load-bearing walls in large buildings are concrete,

block, or brick.

On our group research we could not get any information about the material

used to build the walls of the building. There for we assumed it to be bricks

in double layer.

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C H A P T E R 4

ARCHITECTURE

HIERARCHY

This building has an extremely high amount of archi tectural features in it.

The hierarchy of this building is made to be the curved corner of the

building. This is the part of the building which is most focused and the side

where almost all the people likes to enter. This is a fact since 90% of the

pictures found in internet are taken facing the corner.

The name of the building and the year in was built is painted red in this

corner so that i t catches people’s eyes on.

SYMMETRY

If looked carefully, the façades, without the curve is symmetrical . The

building is not a total symmetry.

TRANSFORMATION

The arch shape carvings and the pillars changes it shapes when looked from

one façade to another. Some of them turn from big to small, and others

changes from square shape to round shape. Some of them even get stretched.

REPETITION

This is the most amazing feature of this building. The small l ine carvings all

over the building makes the building façades looks very exciting. There are

also repeated pillars and many other small details

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If looked carefully, the façades, without the curve is symmetrical . The

building is not a total symmetry.

The arch shape carvings and the pillars changes it shapes when looked from

another. Some of them turn from big to small, and others

changes from square shape to round shape. Some of them even get stretched.

azing feature of this building. The small l ine carvings all

over the building makes the building façades looks very exciting. There are

also repeated pillars and many other small details .

If looked carefully, the façades, without the curve is symmetrical . The

The arch shape carvings and the pillars changes it shapes when looked from

another. Some of them turn from big to small, and others

changes from square shape to round shape. Some of them even get stretched.

azing feature of this building. The small l ine carvings all

over the building makes the building façades looks very exciting. There are

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C H A P T E R 5

INTERIOR SPACES

Ticket Booth

When you first enter the Coliseum Theatre the first thing that you see is a

small ticket booth. The lobby area is not that big, but can occupy around 50

people in

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THEATRE

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present

the experience of a real or imagined event before a l ive audience in a specific

place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience

through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance.

The Coliseum theatre is a has a quite a small space, but efficiently used it,

having up to 900 seating. The theatre is quite old and has been renovated

many times.

According to Mr. Sofi, the current manager of the theatre, the building was

undergone a major renovation in 2001. The main colours used in it were

changed, and a calling was constructed. Also the bench seating, which they

had before have now been changed to modern seating.

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CONCLUSION

These types of buildings, which is old and historical should be measured,

identified and preserved as long as it could be. Building conservation in

Malaysia is considered new in the local architectural practice.

Historic buildings are preserved and conserved for various reasons including

historical and architectural significance, cultural and emotional ties,

economic gains and tourism development. Unlike modern building, historic

buildings are more prone to building defects, one of which is poor

installation of air-conditioning systems.

Architecture in the country is diverse; you can witness different kinds of

architecture here ranging from modern high-rises to colonial buildings.

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Malaysia boasts of colonial past; it was a colony of British Empire and was

under years of colonial rule. The architecture of the country bears testimony

to the Malaysia’s colonial experience.

There are countless old buildings in the country, which clearly reflect the

features of British Architecture.

Most of these prewar houses are very old and have been torn down and new

buildings have replaced them. Overall, architecture of Malaysia is varied and

eclectic and like other aspects of culture of the country reflects Malaysia’s

multiculturalism. Malaysia is also one of the fastest developing nations in the

world and this is also reflected in the Architecture of Malaysia.

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