Who are we?

Hasbullah Mohamad Muhtar 

Tessellar Sdn Bhd, Marketing and Liaison.

Hasbul is Tessellar's pointman for new clients; if you would like to know more about our services, he will brief you on how we can help you, assess what you want in your new home, and assist in the first concept design. Later he will guide you through the design, approval and build process, and highlight the unique approach we have in delivering your home. He will also be responsible for securing approvals for the building of your bungalow. 

Hasbullah, 36, has been in the field of affordable bungalows, all his working life - first with Kayu Sedia Sdn Bhd (1993-1998), which built pre-fabricated timber homes, then with Warisan Ghazali Sdn Bhd. (1999 - present).

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Nathaniel Rhine (Abdullah Firdaus) 

Tessellar Sdn Bhd, Architect and Project Manager

Nathaniel will be the designer who will be interpreting your requirement into a brief... a concept...a sketch design with 3-d computer models...a working drawing ready for costing and submission to the authorities. He will guide you through the internal and external spaces of your future home, its program, details and cost. He will oversee the building of your home to ensure that the house is built according to the drawings and specifications and meets the quality expected. Nathaniel will be responsible for the design of your dream home, and who will also make sure that your dream gets realized within budget and on time!

Nathaniel is a licensed architect in the State of New York, but he is mainly based here, having set up home in Hulu Langat since 1992. He has mainly worked on small projects, but for him, no design problem is too small or insignificant. Transforming your dream into reality will surely be a delicate job, but Nathaniel is passionate about design, and its ability to brighten our lives.

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Mohd Peter Davis 

Tessellar Sdn Bhd, Scientist

Mohd Peter Davis lived in England and Australia before moving permanently to Malaysia in 1988. He has been with Universiti Putra Malaysia, first as a Lecturer in Animal Science and now as a Visiting Scientist with the Institute of Advanced Technology, working on (among other things) ‘Thermal Comfort Honeycomb Housing’, the subject of a popular science book published in 2006. 

Mohd Peter’s Energy Efficient bungalow (above) was designed and built (1990-1993) in Bandar Baru Bangi to stay acceptably cool in the Malaysian humid tropics without air-conditioning, saving an estimated electricity cost of RM1000 per month for this large house. On this rough calculation, the original building cost of RM282,000 for the entire bungalow will be recovered in 24 years. That is smart housing!

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Mazlin Ghazali 

Tessellar Sdn Bhd, Director

Mazlin is an architect specialized in affordable housing. He runs a consultancy that has designed and overseen the completion of more than 10,000 homes, and which is now is commercializing a unique system of housing layout that he invented – one that saves land and encourages friendly communities. His work has brought him into collaboration with leading work in thermal comfort for housing in the humid tropics (with Mohd Peter Davis) and, (with Chou Kan Yin) on a simple, highly efficient and high-quality building system that can be used to build even “one-off” bungalows. 

With Tessellar Sdn Bhd, Mazlin is bringing the benefits of the collective expertise on affordable housing, thermal comfort and industrialized building systems to those who want to build their own bungalows.

Make your dream home come true:

It may be easier to make real than you think! “Affordable Bungalows” is brought to you by Tessellar Sdn Bhd, and we specialize in the design and building of bungalows in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

We are offering a unique service in the market:

you will have the services of an experienced architect who will design the home to meet your specific requirements in terms of planning, style and budget,
the house will be built using a Industrialized Building System that combines quality and speed with affordability,
the homes will incorporate Cool Home technology that will ensure thermal comfort without air-conditioning,
you have a One-stop Design and Build service that simplifies the process of transforming a dream into reality, on-budget and on-time.
Call Hasbullah at 019-3311652 for a Pre-Design Consultation – no obligation! Or send us a message

Find out more about our:

• Cool Home Technology,
• Building System,
• Design and Build Service

Design and Build

Tessellar Sdn Bhd will design and build a home specific to your needs and budget.

Building your own home is probably the biggest single investment you will make, outside of your business. And it’s not just any house – it’s your dream home. We aim to provide a one-stop solution that takes out the problems and uncertainties from the endeavour, at the end of which is the house that you deserve, delivered on schedule at the cost that you budgeted for.

Too often, the burden of overseeing the architect, consultant's and contractor, the hassle of chasing after approvals from the Authorities and the disappointment with the quality of the product, together with cost overruns and delays, turn the dream into a nightmare.

Tessellar Sdn Bhd aims to give you a one-stop-service that manages all of the problems in making your dream-house a reality: completed on time and on budget.

Our business concept is based on making it easy for the client.

There is only one agreement - the Contract to Design and Build.

The Contract Sum will include all the costs for design, obtaining approvals and construction. The Contract Period will take into account the time required for design, approvals, construction and obtaining the connection of water and electricity.

i) Tessellar Sdn Bhd's concept designer will be working with you on the design matters. He will help prepare the design to meet your taste, requirements and budget. Tessellar Sdn Bhd will be assisted by Arkitek M. Ghazali, an architectural firm experienced in residential design.

ii) The Project Manager will personally supervise the construction of your home. The method of construction which involves a Building System for walls and floors, will focus on quality and speed to complete the house.

With Tessellar Sdn Bhd, you deal with only one company to design and build your house. We undertake to:

i) design the house to your unique lifestyle and taste,

ii) guarantee that the cost will not exceed the agreed budget,

iii) chase after approvals to ensure they are all achieved within a fixed period,

iv) ensure that the design and planning is done in thorough detail to a professional standard.

v) incorporate Cool Home technology that will provide thermal comfort while reducing the electricity bill,

vi) build the house to a high standard of workmanship, in accordance with the agreed specifications, and

vii) complete and deliver the house to you within the promised time.


Our Design and Build Services comes in three stages:

The first Stage is the architectural design stage. The potential client is interviewed about his family's needs and requirements, his budget and how he imagines his house should be. We will also visit the site to study its features and constraints.

With the information gathered, we will draw up the first design with plans and elevations for the client to review. Taking into account further comments by the client, we will refine it so that he is satisfied with the architectural layout.

The result from the first stage will be a unique plan that meets your specific needs and budget.

The Second Stage starts out with a Letter of Offer to propose a detailed design and costing of the proposed bungalow.

The scope of services at this stage includes:

i) a survey of the site to locate the position of the proposed building.

ii) to undertake mackintosh probe soil test to determine the building foundation design.

iii) prepare detailed architectural drawings ready for submission to the Local Authority.

iv) designing the structure.

v) design the electrical and plumbing.

vi) prepare 3D computer model and perspectives.

All these are necessary to describe accurately the design of your house. As a result this, Tessellar Sdn Bhd is able to prepare a detailed cost estimate which is competitive and which can be evaluated independently by the client.

This stage requires some expenses to be incurred. We will ask for a deposit to cover these costs.

At the end of this stage, which will take 4 to 6 weeks Tessellar Sdn Bhd will present you a Letter of Offer to Build your bungalow together (with all of the work described above) at a cost not exceeding your budget.

On acceptance of the Offer to Design and Build, the Third Stage commences with the immediate submission of the building plans to the Authorities, the preparation of a Contract Document.

The Contract Document prepared can be used to get a bank or government loan.

Groundbreaking will start immediately upon receiving the building approvals. The works will carry on according to a detailed schedule and in accordance to the Drawings and Specifications.

Normally, Building Approval takes 3 to 4 months and Building Works another 8 months.

Our objective is to hand over to you a completed house, defect-free, with high quality finishing, connected to water and electricity, ready for immediate occupation.

Warisan Ghazali Projects Location Plan

This Google Map shows the locations of Warisan Ghazali projects that have been completed:

Click on pin for details
View Larger Map

How to stay cool at home without the air-con bill

When scientist Mohd Peter Davis moved to Malaysia over 20 years ago there was one thing he found hard to take – the sweltering tropical heat. But first he solved the problem for sheep at his university. His faculty had imported Australian sheep and they were doing badly (small one below).



Peter guessed that they were suffering from heat stress and so he looked at their sheds and re-designed them to be naturally cooler.




Taking an experimental approach, he studied and recorded the temperature profiles in the old and new sheds and compared the mortality and growth rates of the sheep. His diagnosis was correct.

He then went on to study the temperature in single storey houses near the university and made astonishing discovery – that the animals in his new shed were more thermally comfortable than the humans in their homes! He plotted out the temperature profile in the typical home and compared with outdoor temperature under shade and this was what he found:



The outdoor temperature (even on the hottest days) is cool at dawn, warms up in the morning, peaks at about 33 degrees, starts to come down in the afternoon, then further cools down in the evening. But the poor occupants of the ‘modern’ house suffer from high temperature all day and all night. Peter’s finding suggests that the vast majority of Malaysians living in brick houses suffer from heat stress and that they would be more thermally comfortable if they all moved outdoors and live under trees!

This absurd situation shows that it is not the country’s climate which is at fault, but rather that the design of its ‘modern’ houses which are defective. Other than installing air-cons, can something be done to improve the Malaysian home? Peter looked at potential solutions:

• Air cons – they work but for the high electricity bills


• Kampong house – these are ambient buildings that track external temperature; they worked well in the cool countryside but not in towns that suffer from the heat-island effect



• Queensland type raised houses with verandas all round – he built one for himself, but the verandas were costly


• Lightweight, highly insulated homes – he built a few experimental homes on campus: they worked to an extent but still needed the air-con for the hottest days of the year.

The main problem with the conventional brick house is in the roof: the space gets heated up from the sun’s radiation, stores the heat then gives it off at night. It’s best to cut this out by placing thick insulation just under the roof tiles to prevent the attic from heating up.



Windows allowing direct sunlight into homes have to be shaded. The walls too have to be shaded: just like the roof space, they get hot from direct sunlight and store that heat too. Using a computer simulation program, Mohd Peter was able to optimize the amount of insulation and shading. It also pointed to an additional improvement: this was to use mechanically ventilation at night. Bringing cool outdoor night air into a house would not only cool down the internal space, but also the brick walls and concrete floors which can store the coolness. During the day, the walls absorb heat and help to keep the rooms cool.

So this is his solution to thermal comfort without air-con:



The conventional Malaysian house is like a hot water bottle, heated up during the day to keep its occupants warm night. Now, this analogy gets turned upside down - the house gets cooled down at night to keep its residents cool all day.

You can download a free copy of his Ebook "Thermal Comfort Housing" if you subscribe to this web site. You can contact Peter at mohd_peter@hotmail.com

Quality Building System

As an architect, I have been familiar with Industrialized Building systems since 1985. The promoters of the many systems all claim their particular method of construction to be superior in terms of cost, speed and quality. And I have learned to be sceptical.

But the system that most impressed me is based on a very simple concept and it was invented by a fellow Malaysian. I first used Chou Kan Yin’s system of tongue and groove blocks for Staff Housing in Universiti Industri Selangor, and the project was completed in 2003. The results were impressive!



Chou’s concrete blocks slide neatly into each other to form straight walls – something that our workers cannot do with bricks and mortar.



Steel bars for beams, stiffeners and lintels run through the hollows found in the block. Similarly, the wiring and pipes can be put in place without hacking, plus power point casings and water pipe outlets are pre-installed into special blocks at the factory.





With drawings that describe the location of every block, complete with the running of steel bars, wiring and concealed plumbing, building a house is like playing with Lego!

Chou has improved on wall system by adding a simple method for constructing upper floors without formwork. He is now manufacturing 2 inch thick planks that use pre-stressed concrete. These planks are craned into position before being topped up with another layer of reinforced concrete that is poured on site.



No formwork is required, and the floors become waterproof as the wet concrete seals the gaps between the planks.


Together, the wall and floor system produces an accurate building structure without mess. The walls and ceilings only need a thin layer of skim-coating to give a smooth finish. Tiles can also be easily laid on the floors or walls without having to repair the underlying surfaces.

Mostly, Industrialized Building Systems are used in big projects to take advantage of economies of scale. But the special thing about Chou’s system is that it can be used for even a small bungalow!

Affordable Bungalows Architect-designed, Quality building system, Thermal - comfort, Design and build. Call Hasbullah 019-3311652 Send us a message

Anjung Seri Advert

Hasbullah and I put together this quarter page ad for Anjung Seri which I hope will be out in the April issue. The people at that magazine still remember us - I hope their regular readers will be remember us too...

Affordable Bungalows Architect-designed, Quality building system, Thermal - comfort, Design and build. Call Hasbullah 019-3311652 Send us a message