Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan

Hello again. Welcome back to my blog!! Today I'm going to share with you about another Malay house, which is the Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan. Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan is also known as rumah serambi (Chee, 2013). Rumah Tiang 12 is called "Rumah Tiang 12 is because there are 12 main posts, 6 verandah posts and another 6 long posts. This house has 12 posts that are arranged in 3 rows (Chee, 2013). This house has a long roof where the tebar layar (gable end) are fixed with papan pemeleh (fascia boards). The top pair is called main fascia ibu also known as pemeleh ibu and the bottom pair is called verandah fascia board or also known as pemeleh serambi"(Fardiyah, 2016). Thus, this house have 2 layers of roof which is the specialty of Rumah Tiang 12. Pemeleh ibu is steeper slope roof while the pemeleh serambi is less steep slope roof than pemeleh ibu. This house also consists of rumah ibu, rumah tengah, serambi and rumah dapur like any other Malay houses. 

Front View of Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan.

(Source: http://fardiyah.blogspot.my/2016/03/a-study-about-rumah-kelantan-malaysia.html)

Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan that showed the two distinct layers of roof, pemeleh ibu and pemeleh serambi.(Source: http://fardiyah.blogspot.my/2016/03/a-study-about-rumah-kelantan-malaysia.html)

So that is about the shapes of Rumah Tiang 12. Now let me talk about the materials used. Singgora tiles is used for the roof of Rumah Tiang 12. Singgora tiles is made out of red clay. The tiles were imported from Senggora, Southern Thailand even though some is made in Kelantan (Fardiyah, 2016). Singgora tiles looks like an arrow pointed downwards. But when the singgora tiles are installed together, they looked like diamond shaped. As singgora tiles are made out of clay, thus it can absorb heat during the day which help the house to remain cool. At night, the heat absorbed will be released thus keeping the house warm (Abdullah et al, 2015). In this way, the occupant living in the house will feel very comfortable no matter it is day or night. This can also reduce the need of mechanical cooling such as fan. Clay tiles is a suitable materials for roofing. 

The house is basically made out of timber. Wood is a weak conductor of heat thus it will not absorb the heat from the sunlight and will keep the house cool and comfortable. The wall, window and door of the house is decorated with beautiful traditional carving usually associates with "geometry motifs" (Fardiyah, 2016). This increases the aesthetic value of the houses. Rumah Tiang 12 is a quite big house compared to other traditional houses and the materials used are costly. Thus this house is usually for the wealthy people. Rumah Tiang 12 is different than other Malay houses because of the materials used that are better qualities.

The singgora tiles when placed together on the batten of the roof during installation.

(Source: https://umexpert.um.edu.my/file/publication/00005150_129710.pdf)

How singgora tiles look like when every piece is installed together.
   (Source: http://kotastar.blogspot.my/2009/08/kotastarblogspotcom.html) 

References:

Chee, K. (2013) "Perkembangan Seni dalam Budaya Kebangsaan- Bahagian IV Seni Bina". Focus 4U Pendidikan Seni Visual SPM. Bangi: Penerbitan Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. Translated from Bahasa Melayu by E. Tan.

Fardiyah (2016) "A Study about Rumah Kelantan, Malaysia". Available at: 

http://fardiyah.blogspot.my/2016/03/a-study-about-rumah-kelantan-malaysia.html 

[Accessed 6 June, 2016]

Abdullah, N.H., Zawawi, R. and Md Ali, Z. (2015) "Singgora Tiles: Perception of the Community in Kota Bharu, Kelantan". Built Environment Journal. 12(1). pp. 14. 

Image Sources:

Front View of Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan. [Image] Available at:

http://fardiyah.blogspot.my/2016/03/a-study-about rumah-kelantan-malaysia.html 

[Accessed 6 June, 2016]

Installation of Singgora Tiles. [Image] Available at:  

http://kotastar.blogspot.my/2009/08/kotastarblogspotcom.html [Accessed 5 June, 2016]

Rumah Tiang 12 in Kelantan. [Image] Available at:  

http://fardiyah.blogspot.my/2016/03/a-study-about rumah-kelantan-malaysia.html 

[Accessed 6 June, 2016]

Singgora Tiles. [Image] Available at: 

https://umexpert.um.edu.my/file/publication/00005150_129710.pdf [Accessed 5 June, 2016]