'Third place' environment in residential school design in Malaysia

Abstract

This thesis is focused on the subject of ‘Third Place’ in a smaller scope or institution such as a residential school. Within a residential school there is a global issue that relates to the student’s social behaviour which is social detachment towards the surrounding community. The concept of ‘Third Place’ should be emphasise in a residential school design to avoid such issues. ‘Third Place’ has been defined by Ray Oldenburg as a public area or gathering space. It act as a tool of escapism or rejuvenation of oneself from ‘First Place’, which is a home and ‘Second Place’ as the working place or learning space. It is not reserved for anybody and dominated by pedestrians and cyclists. Human scale is preserved so that vehicular element do not overshadow pedestrians. The study relates to the eight components of a ‘Third Place’ and how to integrate it into a residential school design as architectural elements. Research method suitable to identify these components are through observation and secondary data obtained from literature review which produce qualitative data collection. Case studies of ‘First Place’, ‘Second Place’ and ‘Third Place’ includes dormitories, schools and famous squares. The successfulness of these case studies influence the data outcome and leads to understanding of the components within architectural interpertation. This thesis will give basic architectural interpertation of ‘Third Place’ alongside ‘First Place’ and ‘Second Place’ as design strategies. The strategies introduced are for implementation of these concepts into design consideration and it can be a basic guideline to achieve the function and essence of the ‘Third Place’. The implementation of the design strategies will be shown in the design prototype provided. Successful implementation of the concept may results in decrease of social detachment among teenagers living within residential school that experiencing lifestyle similar to a ‘total institution’ environment.