Glad Tidings Vision Centre

Square

Nestled at the old industrial district of Section 13, Petaling Jaya, Glad Tidings Vision Centre (GTVC) is a visual respite from its dour surroundings. It is strategically located amidst established and flourishing neighbourhoods, which are predominantly residential.

The 23,125-square metre edifice is envisioned as an iconic landmark created as a genius loci set in a concrete jungle of placelessness, with its white shell-like roof engulfing the site. Its monumental form is juxtaposed with carefully wrought materials and finishes on a more accessible human scale.

Rising from a two-storey “solid rock base”, concrete buttresses reinforce the three-storey mass, which is crowned by a carapace-like, double curved standing seam roof on a site area of 17,556 square metres. The exterior of GTVC has naturally rendered finishes – off-form concrete walls, cement plastered walls and unplastered common clay brickwork. These raw unfinished surfaces intertwine with three-dimensional concrete chevron patterns on the walls, and concrete fins at the car park levels.

The canopy roof extends from the main building, skirting the administrative block, and tapers towards the entrance to create a visual and physical navigator that directs members into the new prayer halls. Supported by angled round steel columns, the orange skeletal underbelly of the metal roof provides a warm ambience against the ubiquitous raw concrete surfaces.