ASSESSMENT OF THE HISTORIC INTERIOR OF CARCOSA HERITAGE BUILDING, KUALA LUMPUR FOR BUILDING CONSERVATION

Abstract

An assessment of historic buildings, its history and conditions are essential in the study of buildings conservation. Other than architecture history and building defects, the interior scheme of building, the decorations, the building's form and space interior layout are also some significant aspects that need to be analysed in building conservation study. In current practice, the change of use of any heritage building will need approval from the National Heritage Department (NHD). The report of history and building condition is the one of the main documents needed to be submitted for the approval process. The main objective of this research is to analyse the buildings based on the original materials, form, function, decoration, and layout. The methods used for this research include in depth building investigation, analysis, and interpretation; backed up by measured drawing and historical assessment. The analysis involved the mapping of original and existing spaces and then analysed the unique characters of the interior using a series of photos categorised based on time or dates of the photos. From this analysis, the authenticity of the space can be identified and recommendations on better usage of spaces of these historic buildings can be proposed to the National Heritage Department.