The Boh Visitor Centre was a project that started out as a test for whether a visitor centre could actually be built on s site that had access limitations, and that surrounding buildings were to be preserved and left untouched, amongst these were an office, an old factory and some chalets and quarters for the estate workers. Since the Owners had wanted a new facility, there had been at least three previous designs and attempts to convince the Board of Directors to proceed with these proposals. zlgdesign's success at convincing the owners came about through the cooperation with Hostasia, a company specialised in operations and retail management under the guidance of Dorian Landers. It was meant to be built for the Russell family, to be located on the Cameron Highlands Tea Estate, Malaysia. zlgdesign's proposal consisted of a long building, taking the visitors through a retail area before they can come to see the old factory, a building not to be demolished at any cost. From this zlgdesign proceeded to design a modernist box, long and narrow, taking the view that simplicity was the best answer to the problem.
Comprising cinematic and video experience, a small outdoor tea area and vast expanse of visitor facilities, this minimalist and modern building exhibit mainly tea products and information on tea history in Malaysia, but it offered also opportunities to view the estate from an elevated ground, hence the cantilevered balcony that is now the signature feature of the Visitor Centre. Almost everything inside the building has been made from natural materials and composed of found objects as local hardwoods and rustic steel panels. The very large tree on the site has been left exactly where it stood, very close to the structure. Boh took no more than 15 months to construct, for a very small but adequate budget, totally sustainable from both aspects of its construction as well as its purpose.
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