Name Kooi-Ying Mah | ||
Kooi-Ying Mah (born 1950) is an Australian architect, designer, and principal of the firm Kooi-Ying Architects.
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Early life and education
Kooi-Ying was born in Taiping, Malaysia, and migrated to Australia in 1970. She studied at the University of Melbourne, and received her Bachelor of Architecture in 1977.
Work
Early work
After studying and graduating in Melbourne, Kooi-Ying began working for Denton Corker Marshall. In 1980 she moved to Sydney and worked for Ancher Mortlock and Woolley. In 1993 she established M + N Architects with Berlin Ng.
Civic Hotel
This project located in the central southern end of Sydney CBD, involved the recycling and adaptive re-use of the 1930s dilapidated four levels corner heritage pub and construction of a new 17 storey hotel addition. The Civic Hotel was originally designed by R. A. Provost in 1940–41 in the art deco style. The site for the hotel consists of the old Civic Hotel and two narrow adjacent shop houses. The hotel includes 166 rooms and reception areas over 17 storeys. The refurbished Civic Hotel won the R.A.I.A. 2000 NSW Chapter Commendation Award for Conservation and Adaptive Re-Use.
Recent work
In 2004, she established Kooi-Ying Architects. Since the formation of this practice, she has mainly focused on residential architecture. The Scarp house, completed in 2007, has gained recognition since its completion through the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales 2008 Sydney Open Focus Tours as well as being featured in Monument Magazine and ‘21st Century Houses Down Under' publication. The house is impressive for its structure and sensitivity to the difficult surrounding environment. Located on a steep incline in the Castlecrag foreshore, it unfolds delicately around a large rock escarpment, embracing part of the rock as a unique feature to the house.
Pro bono work
One of her more recent projects is ‘Dana Hall', a meditation and giving hall for devotees to a Buddhist monastery in North East Thailand. This was a pro bono project that involved her being actively engaged with the Buddhist monks and their ascetic lifestyle in the rainforest environment.