Interior designer at 16 Taman U-Thant
Twelve homes, each on two floors.
Here the stair, more than any wall, shapes the plan.
Thoughtfully designed around the way you live, and what you’d like to spend.
What changes when every 16 Taman U-Thant home spans two floors?
Twelve duplexes in a single four-storey block, the smallest about 3,800 sq ft. Designing one means arranging two storeys around a staircase, inside a block that has stood for well over a decade.
We’re Sundays in Bed, a KL studio that designs homes one room at a time, with our fee settled on paper before a single drawing starts.
The block stands on Jalan Taman U-Thant in Ampang Hilir, beside Desa Angkasa, Villa Bolton and the Sultan of Brunei’s palace, in an enclave where buildings are kept low. The block is freehold.
At 16 Taman U-Thant, units range from about 3,800 to 5,500 sq ft built-up, and every one is a duplex.
- 3,800–3,900 sq ftFour bedrooms and a maid’s room, on two floors
- About 4,500 sq ftThe same, on ground and first floors, plus a 700 sq ft basement
- 5,400–5,500 sq ftFour bedrooms, a maid’s room and a study, on the top two floors
A duplex this size starts with a different question from a flat: not where the sofa goes, but which floor the day happens on, and whether an older parent needs a bedroom away from the stairs.
The ground-floor homes have something rare in a condominium: roughly 700 sq ft underground, reached straight from their own parking bays. It could be a guest suite, an office with its own door, or a gym.
StarProperty and agents describe the ceilings as high, but no height is published. We measure yours, since curtains and joinery that run the full height cost more per metre, and a badly placed bulkhead spoils the proportion.
Neither the developer nor the completion year is on record. Homes here were already being let and sold in 2012, so we treat each one as an older home and look behind the walls first.
Stair, basement or study: where should a 16 Taman U-Thant duplex spend first?
Usually the stair, the kitchen and the master bath, once you have decided which floor the day belongs to. Those, and whatever the years have worn behind the walls, move the budget more than any finish.
The stair. Because all twelve are duplexes, every home has a stair linking its two floors. Its treads and balustrade set the tone for both; we decide early whether to refinish it or rebuild it.
The basement room. Ground-floor duplexes gain an underground level, around 700 sq ft, beside two parking bays. Guest suite, office or gym: decide its purpose, ventilate it, and test the walls for damp before any joinery goes in.
The top-floor study. The penthouse duplexes, on the 2nd and 3rd floors, add a study or AV room beside a family area. Used as a media room, it needs blackout, sound insulation and wiring planned before the ceilings close.
Four bathrooms, or more. StarProperty lists four per home; some listings here show five or six. Designing all of them adds up quickly. Master bath and guest bath usually earn a full redesign; the rest can take new taps, mirrors and lighting.
Earlier owners’ work. Listings here mention renovated and refurbished homes. A sound kitchen carcass, wardrobe or floor gets new doors or a refinish instead of a rebuild, leaving more for the parts truly past their best.
What does it cost to design and furnish a duplex at 16 Taman U-Thant?
For a 4+1 duplex here, the Sundays in Bed design fee is estimated at RM34,005–41,135; for a penthouse duplex, RM41,135–48,265. Your final fee depends on the rooms you choose, and is agreed in writing before we begin.
With our fee and Curated finishes (Commune, Cellini, Poet Living), a 4+1 duplex here comes to about RM315k–561k in all.
Spend where it matters. Skip what doesn’t. In these duplexes, that tends to mean staircase, kitchen and master bath, seldom every bathroom. Choose a layout below, toggle the rooms for us to draw, and treat each number as a guide until tenders return.
4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and the kitchen: 8 rooms at RM3,565, plus the open-plan living and dining at RM5,485. The foyer and utility yard are designed free.
Within each level, the low end is the essentials; the high end adds extras such as a feature wall, LED strips and a kitchen island.
What the two levels mean
Curated. Melamine and laminate, sintered stone, a plaster ceiling. Furniture from Commune, Cellini, Fella Design, Dezign District, Poet Living, Big Brain, Gudang, Crown Livin and Dadswood.
Bespoke. Bespoke laminate, detailed joinery, a ceiling with cornice. Furniture from Space Furniture, Tekni, BoConcept, King Living, Ambient Living, Stanzo, Forest Furniture, Roche Bobois, XTRA, Urban Edge, Molteni&C, Nostaloft, Flexform, Janine and Chesters Collection.
| Home | Curated | Bespoke |
|---|---|---|
| 4+1 duplex About 3,868 sq ft Estimated fee RM34,005–41,135 | RM281k–527k | RM527k–1.1M |
| Ground-floor duplex 4,500 sq ft, basement included Estimated fee RM41,135–48,265 | RM314k–587k | RM582k–1.21M |
| Penthouse duplex 5,400–5,500 sq ft Estimated fee RM41,135–48,265 | RM316k–620k | RM586k–1.28M |
Lower figures price a usual brief here: living and dining, kitchen, every bedroom, all bathrooms bar one. Upper figures add two further rooms, perhaps the maid’s room, or that last bathroom.
At Curated, furniture comes from Commune, Cellini and Poet Living; at Bespoke, from Space Furniture, BoConcept and Molteni&C.
Bathrooms: four for the 4+1, per StarProperty, and five for the bigger duplexes, per sale listings, each minus one, since an older home seldom needs every bathroom redesigned. Your visit settles the true count.
Basement room and penthouse study count as one designed room apiece; the maid’s room stays untouched. Figures date from October 2026; contractors alone issue quotations.
New cabinetry, wardrobes, hob, hood and air-conditioners are all included. Keep a previous owner’s sound ones, and your total falls.
Furnishing to let? iProperty listed eight duplexes here for rent in 2025. A lighter, hard-wearing fit-out at our Essential level, quicker to finish and easy to keep tenant-ready, is one possibility, with furniture from Ikea, SSF Home and Harvey Norman. The design fee is the same at every level.
Renovation and furniture at Essential, before our fee: 4+1 duplex RM159k–269k · Ground-floor duplex RM179k–302k · Penthouse duplex RM180k–318k.
How we charge. RM3,565 per bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or study we draw; RM5,485 for living plus dining. Five bathrooms upstairs and down? Those you skip simply aren’t counted.
That sum is set out on paper first, then paid in instalments. Contractors’ invoices never move it: marble treads instead of timber on your staircase alter their price, never ours.
Your number leads. Name one total covering both storeys, basement too, and the design is shaped to fit inside it.
How does a renovation run in a twelve-home block with no published rules?
Whoever answers your first call stays with your duplex until the last lamp is placed. Our studio designs and manages; licensed builders carry out the works, picked by you after we have compared their tenders together.
- The first call FreeGround-floor duplex, standard 4+1 or penthouse; who sleeps upstairs; anything a past owner altered; and roughly what you hope to spend.
- The visit RM200, waived if you go ahead with usTape measure on both levels and up to the ceiling, a moisture reading in any basement, a look inside the distribution board, and a list of keepers.
- Agreeing the scope, then designingPaperwork comes before pencils: rooms, budget, fee. After that, what each storey is for, then staircase, lighting, joinery and materials.
- Drawings and quotesPlans precise enough for tenderers to cost every item. Several bids come back; we sit down with you over them, and the builder is your choice.
- The works, then moving inAccess and hours get cleared with management, every stage gets checked against our plans, and both storeys are dressed before you return.
With services of unknown age, the order of works matters: wiring and pipes before ceilings and floors. In a two-storey home, a leak upstairs marks the ceiling below. Keeping things in that order falls to us. The full process
DBKL and the management. Being within Kuala Lumpur, this block’s renovation permits are issued by DBKL; a licensed contractor files yours. Expect management to want sight of the drawings too.
Twelve homes make for a small management body, and none of its deposit, hours or delivery terms are online. Getting them in writing is our first errand.
Will my home look like the duplex next door?
It shouldn’t. Twelve homes share a handful of plans, but not a household. Teenagers upstairs and a grandparent below need a different duplex from a couple who entertain most weekends.
So we begin with how the two floors are lived in: who climbs the stairs least, where guests sleep, which room is kept quiet. Finishes follow. At this size, beautiful comes easily; making it yours is the work.
What an older 16 Taman U-Thant home usually needs
- KeepHeight, balconyThe high ceilings and the generous balcony; we avoid lowering either with bulkheads or enclosures
- AdaptStair, bathroomsA stair linking both floors, and four or more bathrooms from an earlier fit-out
- AddA job for each roomThe basement room or the top-floor study, each given a clear use
Nobody has published what these homes were handed over with, and owners have altered many. Your visit tells us what’s there.
What large homes nearby have cost to renovate
No Sundays in Bed project sits in this block yet, so the evidence comes from towers a short drive west: published renovation records for KLCC.
Nearest in size is a 3,973 sq ft home at The Pearl Residence, renovated for RM900,000, about RM227 per sq ft. That figure is another firm’s published project, not ours.
KLCC’s 18 records have a median of RM158 per sq ft. Multiply that by 3,868 sq ft and a 4+1 duplex reaches roughly RM611,000, beyond Curated and inside Bespoke in the calculator. That is why we price room by room: the rooms you leave alone cost nothing to design.
Retaining earlier work pulls it down. The records’ scopes vary, so treat this as a guide, not a quote.
See every tower’s numbers on our KLCC renovation cost index.
Nearby, with their own pages: Ampang · U-Thant Residence · The Atrium
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16 Taman U-Thant questions, answered
Can the basement of a ground-floor home become a guest suite?
Often. In the ground-floor duplexes it’s about 700 sq ft, opening to two car parks, which suits a guest suite, a home office or a gym. First, though, test it for damp, airflow and where a basement shower would drain.
How do you split a 16 Taman U-Thant duplex between its two floors?
Staircase first. Daytime rooms, meaning living, dining and kitchen, take one storey; bedrooms the other, unless a grandparent needs to sleep downstairs. Furniture is chosen last, sized for rooms in homes of 3,800 sq ft upwards.
What might a 4+1 duplex here cost to renovate and furnish?
For a 3,868 sq ft 4+1 duplex, renovation and furniture are estimated at RM281k–527k at Curated (Commune, Cellini or Poet Living), or RM527k–1.1M at Bespoke (Space Furniture, BoConcept or Molteni&C), before our fee. What lies behind the walls moves it most.
Do all four to six bathrooms in these duplexes need redesigning?
Seldom. Master and guest baths tend to get the full treatment; others can be lifted with fresh taps, a mirror and warmer light for far less. Any bathroom left alone stays off our fee.
Who approves a renovation at 16 Taman U-Thant?
DBKL grants the permit, applied for by your licensed builder. Expect this block’s management to ask to see the drawings too. Its deposit, hours and delivery terms aren’t public, so we get them in writing first.
Can the top-floor study become a media room?
Yes. Penthouse duplexes on levels 2 and 3 pair a study or AV room with a family area. Blackout, acoustic lining, plus cabling for screen and speakers, all get planned before ceilings close, so no wire shows.
Planning changes to your 16 Taman U-Thant duplex?
Ground-floor duplex with a basement, a 4+1, or a penthouse? Send the plan, any past renovation you know of, and a rough figure for both floors. That opening call is free, and our estimated fee arrives in writing before you sign.
Free · your fee is agreed in writing before we start