Grit & Gratitude | Ar. Alan Teh Reflects on AATA’s 20 Years of Groundbreaking Ingenuity

For two decades, Atelier Alan Teh Architect has been thriving under the philosophy of prioritising people, places and the planet. To celebrate this milestone, a retrospective was held, and who better than its eponymous founder to narrate its remarkable journey in sculpting the Malaysian design landscape.

Text Monisha Sivanesan

Images courtesy of Atelier Alan Teh Architect

In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, Atelier Alan Teh Architect (AATA) curated a retrospective exhibition and talk series from 6 to 21 September 2025 at Temu House Art Gallery in Section 16, Petaling Jaya, spotlighting 20 seminal works—out of the 150 projects completed—that trace the studio’s journey from modest beginnings in a compact 600 sqft office to present-day success born from both its headquarters in Petaling Jaya and branch office in Penang. Specifically speaking, the projects set up by Founder and Managing Director Ar. Alan Teh together with his spirited ensemble span the residential, commercial, industrial, sports, healthcare, hospitality, cultural and educational sectors. Whether he’s only involved during the conceptual design stage and oversees the remainder or has personally handled it from start to finish, each of them holds its own significance, context and triumph. Through drawings, photographs and 3D models, the aim is for the general public, industry partners, young architects and design students to better understand the intricacies of crafting meaningful spaces.

According to Alan, who kindly narrated the firm’s lengthy journey in this insightful interview, AATA’s first defining moment came with the Fuji Electric M2 Plant in Kedah, unlocking a wave of groundbreaking commissions like Univ360. Influenced by Singapore’s forward-thinking urbanism by which a jaw-dropping 100% green replacement must be provided for every development erected, referencing The Pinnacle@Duxton where living greenery and high-density living co-exist in symphonic harmony, Univ360 pushed the boundary with an impressive 58% green ratio. It soared well above Malaysia’s meagre 10% by-law requirement, arguing that the ratio should be dependent on the total population instead of the site area and suggesting that all of our high-rise developments should at least achieve a 40% rating to help balance things out in a time when these buildings sprout faster than the trees they displace.

Having won the PAM AWARD 2016 Commercial Highrise: Commendation, the Star Property Award 2017/2018 and the MLAA Project of the Year Award 2016/2017, Univ360 officially established AATA as a visionary, and an eco-minded one at that. This advanced way of thinking was also applied to landmark projects Urban 360 and Selayang 18, backed by the same client who excitedly tagged along on the Singapore study trip conducted for Univ360. As you’ll notice in other projects, AATA takes pride in nurturing sustainable urban communities by creating extra varieties of green communal spaces such as pocket gardens, roof gardens and sky lounges, dispersed as close as possible to habitable spaces to encourage occupants to interact more often. The desire for responding to the tropical climate and tethering the connection between people and the environment was actually seen earlier in the T House, the retirement home with a C-shaped courtyard designed for Alan’s parents back in 2011.

Beyond architecture, Alan expanded into his first love a.k.a. fine art with Atelier Art Space, once a private gallery that curated over 30 exhibitions—including the late Victor Chin’s colourful renderings of colonial Malayan shophouses and the Nada Rimba fundraisers with the Malaysian Nature Society—and now home to AATA studio since 2011. Following the success of Rumah Padi, the temporary exhibition pavilion the gallery curated for Kedah Padi Heritage Festival 2016 using bamboo canopies and shipping containers, AATA was approached to create a central attraction for F3 Capital Group’s lifestyle property marketing campaign called LifeFest 2016. The outcome was something totally avant-garde: the Urban Living Container House, a compact dwelling crafted from three shipping containers. Serving as a travelling exhibition showhouse for at least two property sites, the design intended to reverse the stigma surrounding container homes, typically associated with poor living conditions and site accommodation for workers, by reinterpreting them as fun, innovative and comfortable spaces. Showing potential for real-world application, the prototype even ignited discussions on affordable student housing.

From leading the first Edu X AATA tour at the exhibition with student designers from Universiti Malaya, UCSI University and First City University College—all institutions of higher learning which he happens to either lecture part-time at or collaborate with as an industry partner—and even featuring some of their works on the mezzanine floor to participating on the judging panel for DOTY’s inaugural Future Design Star (FDS) Award 2025, Alan’s handprints are all over Malaysia’s education scene. Whether it’s within the context of a classroom or a competition, his active teaching strategy is not a one-way transmission but a circular flow, where insight moves fluently between both parties—what his students gain in mentorship, he gains in perspective. In other words, the students’ fearlessness in imagination, displaying awareness but ultimately unburdened by the constraints of cost or bylaws, inspires the choices made in his own creative practice. It also goes to show that no generation can prosper in isolation, can they?

Beyond the schools’ studio environment where these fresh ideas are typically tested, it’s this safe space for experimentation in the industry—unfiltered, unrepentant—that he fiercely protects. “Without the spirit of experimentation, you’ll forever be stuck to traditional typologies or conservative approaches, which is why I always encourage my team to exercise it, be it for a large-scale project or a smaller one.” When asked what drives him to be and keep being involved in the education sector, he instinctively replies, “To be honest, how many buildings can you do in your lifetime?” The question is rhetorical, but the implication is profound. Legacy, for him, lies not only in tangible structures but in the development of minds, explaining that “If we can share our knowledge and inspire more young Malaysian designers to move towards a more sustainable design practice, that’ll be more impactful than just working on projects alone.”

At AATA, architecture is, at its most meaningful, a medium for memory, identity and connection. More specifically, it is to be utilised and developed as a tool for placemaking. Initiatives like the Bukit Mertajam Arts and Cultural Festival and projects like the One Hope Charity & Welfare Complex reveal a cultural custodian with a heart for home; the former sought to preserve heritage buildings and raise awareness about the importance of the historic town as the centre of trade and culture for Seberang Perai/Province Wellesley while the latter, an upcoming religious-meets-communal institution with expectations of becoming the next cultural tourism hotspot, daringly opts for a modern minimalist yet inherently oriental design to illustrate cultural evolution in a cost-efficient and climate-sensitive manner. In the face of ageing populations, as seen in Japan and Taiwan, Alan believes architecture must help revitalise old communities, repurpose forgotten structures and reawaken traditions because sometimes, the future of design isn’t about building new empires but breathing life into the ones we already have. Doing so is a timely and timeless necessity, especially in the midst of our continual battle with AI where the human touch becomes our most powerful asset.

“I always encourage young architects to return to their hometowns, which they are more familiar with. Too many flock to the capital city chasing opportunity but often overlook the far greater impact they could make in the very places that made them,” Alan explains with the gentle insistence of someone who has seen the magic of such a move firsthand. Highlighting the fact that about a quarter of the projects exhibited are designed and located in his own hometown, he comments that unlike the KL-based projects, there’s a deep emotional attachment to the Bukit Mertajam-based ones, adding that “I’m always thrilled to return here because I look forward to something new happening and seeing everyone come together to make it happen. I know the people, some of whom are my friends, so it’s a different kind of job satisfaction for me. I feel that I’m truly part of the community.”

While our local policies have seen some improvement in these past 20 years, there is still quite a lag in their implementation, and policy without bite is doctrine without action. There have been welcome cracks in the concrete ceiling, yet it remains largely driven by the private sector. Unlike the Singaporean government which takes the lead in greening urban spaces, ours supports but rarely sets the pace to teleport our public buildings into the present. For example, the standards for school design seem more aspirational than operational, and a physical critique of it is the SMJK Jit Sin Academic Block Extension—Alan’s alma mater and Malaysia’s first public school designed based on the Green Building Index, rating high enough to secure a win in the Academia Building category of the Malaysia Green Building Council’s Leadership in Sustainability Award 2022. Other than introducing green spaces, the design encourages organic student interaction and learning beyond the confinement of rooms. “If we wish to see greater change on a national level, the Malaysian government must walk the talk and be willing to push themselves for the better too,” Alan remarks.

Ask Alan if there was ever a specific moment when he felt he’d “made it” and you won’t get a boastful declaration. Instead, a reflective pause over how far his firm has come is followed by an earnest revelation that the idea for the anniversary exhibition wasn’t born from a singular victory lap, but from the shadows of one of the firm’s most trying chapters: the tumultuous MCO period. Yes, like the rest of the world, AATA could not escape the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic which, for them, included the cancellation of a major project in Johor. Despite this, no staff were laid off, and the primary mission pivoted to survival and exploration. Nearly completed, The Loop residence—a site-specific rainforest retreat in Janda Baik, Pahang that promotes sustainable living and immersive connection to the minimally disturbed landscape—is one such opportunity that came along and granted Alan the total freedom to design freely like a student. It was in that moment of creative resurgence, amidst financial uncertainty, that he made a promise to himself: if they survived, they would celebrate—not out of vanity, but out of appreciation for the journey and the motivation to move forward.

Having tackled almost every typology in the industry, resulting in a portfolio that reads like a masterclass in versatility, AATA’s curiosity remains delightfully unsated. Currently, they’re reimagining a hospital with a centralised admin hub, naturally ventilated toilets and lush pocket gardens. True to his eco-conscious code, the real innovation lies in the materials they’re aiming to incorporate, namely glue-laminated timber which is a sustainable alternative made from plantation wood that not only helps preserve our forests but also further reduces the carbon footprint of buildings. He remarks that “It’s popular in first world countries; it was even used to construct the Paris 2024 Olympic facilities, but it’s still underused in Malaysia. We want to change that, especially with the help of a local manufacturer.”

AATA is also in the middle of designing their first shopping mall, but don’t expect another sterile box of consumerism. Inspired by The Commons in Bangkok, this upcoming project dares to ask: what if a mall could breathe? Another case of breaking the rules, the plan is to forgo air-conditioning in all the public corridors for a hearty embrace of natural ventilation. To win hearts [and the funds], the team whisked their client away on a study trip in Singapore, including the Our Tampines Hub in the itinerary to witness this concept in action. Once again, these projects are a reminder that sustainability for the firm is not lip service, but a lived practice. Beyond that, it lives up to its ambition of making the most out of every opportunity given, even if that means undertaking more challenges than required. It remains both a realist and a romantic: grounded in the now, but always reaching for a better, greener next.

The greatest lesson, nay a truth, about being both a good designer and a good leader that these past two decades of varied experiences have taught the architect, who imagined himself as an artist or an entrepreneur in an alternate reality but ended up exploring both professions in his own way in this present reality, is that architecture is never an independent act. From involving interns in community projects and guiding them through the process or training his team and getting them the right exposure, the down-to-earth figure has built a work culture rooted in collaboration, and has since passed that ethos on to his fellow partners/directors, Ar. Chaw Boon Kit and Jaslyn Yap. In short, ego and the self must be set aside to make way for empowerment and the others for a company to flourish to the best of its abilities. Having said that, where exactly does Alan see himself and the firm in the following 20 years to come?

His answer is as selfless as it is strategic. Uttered with the quiet pride of a founder envisioning a firm that flourishes beyond his own shadow, the 50-year-old with plenty of gas in the tank to stride into his next decade or two of spearheading AATA hopes to be succeeded by someone brilliant who will carry the torch with equal parts vision and vigour, and, ideally, it’ll be someone who he’s had the pleasure of mentoring. Having observed the troubling pattern among many pioneering Malaysian firms whereby they build incredible legacies, only to see them fade due to poor succession planning, he views succession not as a retreat, but as a responsibility. Extending beyond his post, he’d like to ensure the firm evolves healthily as a collective by finding and cultivating leaders for the next generation and beyond. In a nutshell, AATA readily enters its next chapter with a steely resolve and an ever-growing ardour to mould places that serve, uplift and endure—here’s to another 20 years (and more) of reaching new heights.