Masterplan

Background Information
Sandakan a growing township and the second biggest town in Sabah located on the eastern side of Borneo with a population of approximately 350,000 people. This comprehensive development is strategically located in between the town of Sandakan and the main airport. This development covers an area of 35.5 acres and constitutes several parcels of commercial components. This development is also a catalyst for the regeneration of Sandakan town which was formerly a bustling port of Borneo.

Design Approach
The brief calls for the One Avenue development to be a major business and residential hub for the town of Sandakan. The development brief encompasses a shopping mall, a hypermarket, a business hotel, 250 units of shop offices, 300 units of various house types and some leisure facilities. The centre of the overall development would be the business hotel and the shopping mall, that would be a major attraction to sustain the overall development. Presently, on the north side of this development a hypermarket and shop offices development are now being built.

While the on the south side of the development would consists of the residential areas and leisure facilities. The general architectural language of the development is the distinctive interpretation of Art Deco style evident in most buildings in Sandakan has designed in a more refreshing approach. The overall development would also be fully landscaped to create a tropical lifestyle enclave synonymous to Sandakan being called ‘The Nature City’.

Background Information
At present Sandakan does not offer any moden, trendy and affordable business hotel to suit an average businessman or tourists visiting Sandakan; where they can enjoy the facilities for both work and play within the same confines.

Site Plan

View of the Business hotel

Design Approach
The brief calls for the development of a 290 room budget hotel that would entice a wide spectrum of hotel guests. The hotel is strategically located within the heart of the development. The hotel also has a direct access to the One Avenue shopping mall and boulevard walk, hence creating a niche development that will be popular with the people of Sandakan. The hotel has spacious meeting and exhibition areas for business or conventions for both the public and government sector. The hotel also has a decent size swimming pool, gym and a spa. The hotel would be the most prominent building within this development and present a distinctive landmark to the whole area. This 10 storey hotel is designed with a modern facade which will integrate with the design of the shopping mall. The hotel building will also be the tallest building within this development and its immediate surrounding areas.

Background Information
The One Avenue Shopping Mall would be the first of its kind in Sandakan. The mall would add and complete Sandakan as a major tourist destination in Sabah and Malaysia. The mall would also be focal point of the development and a catalyst to the overall development of Bandar Utama.

Site Plan

Rear View

Front view facing main road

Design Approach
The brief for the One Avenue Mall is to develop a broad medium based mall that would cater for the population of Sandakan and tourists visiting Sandakan. The mall will be of approximately 700,000 square foot of gross retail space and would be categorized as a mid sized mall serving a mid range priced retail items. The lettable retail space has been maximized to achieve a target efficiency of 65% and creating a mall which is generous in its circulation space. The mall creatively utilizes the space to accommodate flexibility for events to take place with several entertainment areas such as, a cineplex, 20 lane bowling hall and a games centre. The frontage of the mall faces directly on to the major roads making it visible to motorists using these roads.

Background Information
Sandakan is famous for its reasonable priced and mouth-watering sea food cuisine. Being located close to the sea; Sandakan offers a rich variety of sea food to entice the taste buds. Hence, the boulevard will be a place to enjoy Sandakan’s highly recommended sea food cuisine and will become a major attraction to Sandakan town.

Site Plan

Street level view of the retail units

View of Avenue walk

Design Approach
The brief demands a gateway that would formally link the hotel, the mall and the shop offices. The nature of this gateway is to be able to sustain itself whilst adding commercial value to the adjacent development. The general idea is to create a sea food eatery centre that would compliment both the hotel and the mall. The boulevard shop is a mixture of two storeys and single storey restaurants serving a wide variety of local seafood cuisine to western food outlets. This would appeal to both the locals and tourists to frequently visit Sandakan and this development. The boulevard would be lushly planted with tropical trees to create a refreshing and natural enviroment. The boulevard is designed as an active place where Sunday markets, night markets or cultural entertainment carnivals can be held here throughout the year.

Background Information
In order to create a neighbourly environment within such a large development, it is important to accommodate a well managed leisure sports facility to serve its residential community.

Site Plan

Street level view of the sports center

Design Approach
In this design option, we dedicate an area for a community sports centre to serve the people of Sandakan. The design incorporates retail outlets at its perimeter with indoor games area at its centre. The sports centre is designed to be multi-functional, able to cater for various sporting events such as badminton, volleyball, basketball, futsal, small concert events, as well as an exhibition area. The sports centre or complex is also located at one end or perpendicular to the Boulevard, a walking distance to the shopping mall and hotel.