The breathtaking view of the Bandar Rimbayu entrance.

IJM Land recently won gold in the FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards 2017 for its Bandar Rimbayu residential development.

IJM Land Berhad managing director Edward Chong and Bandar Rimbayu Sdn Bhd COO Shuy Eng Leong both agreed that the award served as a recognition that hardships and efforts they put into the development are recognised, even more so as this award is at an international level.

Bandar Rimbayu was designed to derive the best out of the parcel of land.

Chong explained that there are key elements that make a land attractive and it is the developer’s skills to enhance those elements to the next level.

“It’s not about putting iconic buildings all over the place; that is not planning,” insisted Chong, “That’s just getting the architect to come up with the weirdest ideas and making the skyline different.”

Chong said people are concerned with the practicality of things and also ultimately, it is what the customer wants.

For Bandar Rimbayu, IJM Land also recognises that it is not just about building houses — it is planning a township.

Hence, careful planning is needed to make the homes complete — the choice of amenity to include in the house as well as spatial planning that meets the buyers’ sense of sufficient living spaces, not just excess space that they have to pay extra for.

Amenities can either be placed in the homes or placed in vicinity of shops within the township.

The spacious green area at Periwinkle (Phase 3) residential homes.

An example is ‘The Arc’, a centre of community interaction and a pivotal meeting point for Bandar Rimbayu residents to congregate for social activities.

It houses a football field and club village which target to be ready by year 2019.

Shuy pointed out that the green features integrated into the township is the other factor for the win.

“You can build a lot of green buildings or green townships, but one of the critical things is to put in more passive designs as this design method uses ambient energy sources instead of purchased energy like electricity or natural gas,” explained Shuy.

Passive designs are part of the planning and should tax a low to no maintenance cost to the green feature and include strategies like daylighting, natural ventilation, and solar energy.

This is different to active designs that require high maintenance and mechanical features to achieve the green standard that eventually end up incurring a hefty bill to property owners.

Shuy said that ‘The Arc’ is one of the largest rainwater harvesting system in Malaysia. Water is collected from the green roof and channelled through drips at each column grown with climbing plants, discharged into creek and recycled for irrigation purposes. But the practicality of a township often comes down to its accessibility.

And for many living in the Klang Valley, connectivity is vital, which is why Bandar Rimbayu was planned with various accessways.

The township enjoys excellent connectivity thanks to its strategic location and access of major highways.

It is connected to urban centres and major towns through nearby highways including KESAS, LKSA, ELITE and SKVE.

The township also takes into account the livelihood of its residents.

Strangers becoming friends at the #runwithme 2016 event in Bandar Rimbayu.

Individual parcels were given assistance in gating up their community, helping them to form resident associations.

IJM Land also works with app providers to help residents build a platform for communication among themselves, to employ security or gather general information.

Each community will have their own platform that services their housing estate.

“As a developer, we also need to occasionally get them together in totality, especially during events,” provided Chong.

Bandar Rimbayu, while different in its own way, presents a gentler terrain that makes working the site manageable.

The actual challenge was linking the land to the existing highways, but IJM Land is confident that Bandar Rimbayu will be one of the best commuter townships in Malaysia, with the many different highways at its doorstep.

IJM Land’s previous FIABCI win is The Light on Penang island with its 42-acre residential parcel.

As that was a reclaimed land next to the sea, IJM Land cut about three acres of waterways for a lagoon within the residential development and placed a saltwater aquarium right in front of the homes.

This lagoon and saltwater features become the attraction for homeowners.

For Bandar Rimbayu, its philosophy is to create a close-knit community, where kids can run around the housing estate, play with their neighbours in assured security.

Most importantly the sense of homeliness created within the township is what makes the difference with Bandar Rimbayu.

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