Interior designer at Ken Bangsar
An office block, made into eighty homes.
Seventeen years on, each one is ready to be made yours.
Thoughtfully designed around the way you live, and what you’d like to spend.
What does a former office tower on Jalan Kapas ask of the home inside it?
Ken Bangsar began as an abandoned office block and was finished as 80 freehold homes in 2009. So the work here is reading an older frame, and deciding which parts of a generous 2009 fit-out still earn their place.
Sundays in Bed is a residential interior design studio in Kuala Lumpur. We haven’t yet designed a home at Ken Bangsar; elsewhere in Bangsar we have, at Bangsar Hill Park, and we work room by room, for a fee agreed in writing before we begin.
Ken Holdings bought the 12½-storey office building from Danaharta, added two floors, and opened it as serviced residences near the top of Jalan Kapas. It became the first building outside Singapore to earn Singapore’s Green Mark GoldPLUS rating.
Ken Bangsar is one freehold block of 15 storeys and 80 homes, with units from studios to four triplex penthouses; sizes below are built-up.
- About 540–1,200 sq ftStudios and one-bedrooms, some with a small extra room
- About 1,960–2,100 sq ftThree bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a helper’s room and powder room
- About 2,700 sq ftFour bedrooms, a small extra room and four bathrooms
- About 6,600–8,500 sq ftTriplex penthouses: five en-suite bedrooms, a sixth room and a private pool
An office frame sits under the plaster. Converted buildings often keep beams and columns where a purpose-built condo wouldn’t, so before we draw a wardrobe to the ceiling or a cove of light, we find where each beam runs.
The original fit-out was generous: marble floors, Dornbracht and Villeroy & Boch fittings, rain showers. Seventeen years later, much of that is worth honing and keeping, while air-conditioners, water heaters and kitchen cabinets are usually due.
Then there are the bathrooms. In a 3+1 here, every bedroom has its own bathroom, and there is a powder room besides. Few owners need every one redone, and choosing which ones is a good half of the brief.
Marble, beams and three en-suites: what comes first in a Ken Bangsar 3+1?
Deciding what to keep. In a well-built 2009 home, the budget goes furthest on what has worn out, not on what still works.
The beams. Office floors were planned for desks, not bedrooms. Where a beam crosses a room, we set wardrobes and curtain lines to tuck beneath it, rather than dropping the whole ceiling to hide one line.
The marble. These homes were finished in two-foot marble tiles. Honed and polished, sound marble usually looks better than whatever would replace it, so we lift only the cracked or stained runs and keep the rest.
The en-suites. Each bedroom has its own bathroom. We start with the principal one and the powder room your guests use, then refresh the others with vanities, mirrors and lighting, keeping good taps that still run well.
The glass. The windows are laminated low-E glass, specified to keep heat out for the Green Mark rating. So curtains can often be chosen more for softness and privacy than for blocking sun, which opens up lighter fabrics.
The services. Air-conditioners, water heaters and kitchen cabinets fitted in 2009 are now seventeen years old. Efficient replacements suit a building known for its green rating, and this is usually where the first ringgit goes.
What does it cost to design and furnish a Ken Bangsar 3+1 or penthouse?
For a 3+1 here, the Sundays in Bed design fee is estimated at RM30,440–37,570; for a triplex penthouse, RM44,700–51,830. 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 3+1 here comes to about RM281k–459k in all.
Spend where it matters. Skip what doesn’t. At Ken Bangsar that tends to mean services, the kitchen and the principal bathroom, seldom the marble. Pick your type, then switch off any room you’d leave alone. Each figure stays an estimate until contractors quote.
3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and the kitchen: 7 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 3+1 About 1,960–2,100 sq ft Estimated fee RM30,440–37,570 | RM251k–429k | RM474k–901k |
| 4+1 About 2,700 sq ft Estimated fee RM34,005–41,135 | RM279k–501k | RM524k–1,050k |
| Penthouse From about 6,800 sq ft, on three floors Estimated fee RM44,700–51,830 | RM347k–678k | RM638k–1,382k |
| Studio About 540 sq ft Estimated fee RM12,615–16,180 | RM153k–269k | RM309k–608k |
The lower figure covers a usual brief: the living and dining, the kitchen, each bedroom and, in the larger homes, all but one bathroom. The higher one allows one more room, or two in the larger homes: perhaps that last en-suite, or a second, wet kitchen.
At Curated, furniture comes from Commune, Cellini and Poet Living; at Bespoke, from Space Furniture, BoConcept and Molteni&C.
These are resale homes from 2009, so each type is counted with one bathroom fewer than it has: three in the 3+1 and 4+1, five in the penthouse. Not every bathroom needs designing.
No kitchen plans are published. We’ve counted one enclosed kitchen in the larger types and check yours on the visit.
The ranges include new air-conditioners, water heaters, kitchen cabinets and wardrobes. Keep the marble and sound fittings and yours comes in lower. October 2026 guides; only your contractors quote.
In the triplex, we’ve counted the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and living spaces. The pool deck, roof terrace and any double-height walls are priced on the visit, on top.
Furnishing to let? At Ken Bangsar, studios are let by the month. 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: 3+1 RM142k–220k · 4+1 RM158k–256k · Penthouse RM198k–349k · Studio RM83k–131k.
How the fee adds up. RM3,565 for each bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or study we design; RM5,485 for the living and dining together. An en-suite you leave untouched simply isn’t counted.
That sum is set out in a signed agreement before any drawing starts, and you pay it in stages. Choosing new stone over honing the old changes your contractor’s bill, never our fee.
Your figure leads. Tell us what the whole home should cost, furniture included, whether it’s a studio or a triplex. Every drawing is checked against that number.
Who signs off a renovation in a 2009 serviced-residence block, and in what order?
Building management first, then DBKL, then the trades. We draw and manage; contractors you choose do the building, from quotes we gather and go through with you. The designer you meet first is the one who dresses the finished rooms.
- A first conversation FreeYour type, from studio to triplex, who lives there or will rent it, what the 2009 fit-out still has, and what you’d like to spend.
- Measuring the home RM200, waived if you go ahead with usWe measure every room, trace the beams the office frame left behind, check the marble and note which bathrooms and fittings are worth keeping.
- Agreeing scope, then designingRooms, budget and our fee go on paper before anything is drawn. Then come layouts, lighting, finishes and joinery planned around the beams, not into them.
- Quotes, comparedYour contractors price one drawing set, so their quotes line up like for like. We go through each with you, and you choose who builds.
- Works, then the finishingWe see the management approval through, check each stage on site against the drawings, and style the rooms once the dust has gone.
Management, DBKL, a contractor, several suppliers and, in a let home, a tenant’s moving-in date: plenty has to stay in step. Keeping it there is our part of the job. The full process
Planning works at Ken Bangsar? Your licensed contractor obtains the DBKL permit, and building management will usually need to approve the works before they start.
The building’s renovation deposit, permitted hours and lift booking rules aren’t published, so we collect the current terms before your contractors price anything. In a block of only 80 homes, we plan the noisiest work in short, early blocks.
Seventeen years on, how does a Ken Bangsar home become yours rather than the last owner’s?
By starting with who lives there now. A 2009 home has suited someone else for years; we keep what still works and change what was theirs.
A 3+1 might hold a couple whose grown children come home at weekends, or a family with parents moving in. We begin with yours: who cooks, who works from home, and who should have the quietest en-suite.
What an older Ken Bangsar home usually needs
- KeepMarble, glassHoned marble floors, laminated low-E windows, good taps that still run well
- AdaptBathrooms, kitchenNew vanities, mirrors and lighting; a kitchen reworked where it has aged
- AddServices, storageEfficient air-conditioners and water heaters, wardrobe interiors, layered lighting
Based on the 2009 fit-out as published; many homes have been changed since, so we judge yours in person.
What renovating nearby has cost
There’s no Ken Bangsar project of ours to show yet. Bangsar’s published renovation records are the nearest guide: of eleven that list floor area and spend, the median is RM114 per sq ft.
Araville, at 2,100 sq ft much the size of a 3+1 here, came to RM240,000. At RM114 per sq ft, a 2,000 sq ft home would be about RM228,000, a little under the Curated range above.
Every record, building by building, is on our Bangsar renovation cost index.
Nearby, with their own pages: Bangsar · One Eleven Menerung · The Lantern Bangsar · Residensi 38 Bangsar
Turned my condo into a home
Angelica has made my condo unit into a home. She is professional, decisive, and yet she truly listens to our wishes and needs.
View on Google →Committed to even the tiniest detail
She’s not just awesome at what she does, but she’s committed to perfecting even the most tiny detail.
View on Google →Beyond our wildest expectations
The transformation surpassed our wildest expectations, turning what seemed like mere potential into a breathtaking reality.
View on Google →FAQ
Before you renovate at Ken Bangsar
Was Ken Bangsar really an office building?
Yes. Ken Holdings bought an abandoned 12½-storey office block from Danaharta, added two floors and completed it as 80 freehold homes in June 2009. For a renovation, that mainly means checking where beams and columns fall before planning tall wardrobes or a flat ceiling.
Is the original marble floor worth keeping?
Often. The homes were finished in two-foot marble tiles. Where they’re sound, honing and polishing costs far less than new stone and keeps a floor that suits the building. We check for cracks, hollow tiles and stains on the site visit.
Does every bathroom in a 3+1 need redoing?
Rarely. Every bedroom has its own, plus a powder room. Most owners start with the principal bathroom and the powder room, then refresh the rest with vanities, mirrors and lighting. Each bathroom we design is RM3,565 on our fee; one left alone adds nothing.
What might a Ken Bangsar triplex penthouse cost to renovate and furnish?
For a 6,800 sq ft triplex, renovation and furniture are estimated at RM347k–678k at Curated (Commune, Cellini or Poet Living), or RM638k–1,382k at Bespoke (Space Furniture, BoConcept or Molteni&C), before our fee. The pool deck, roof terrace and any double-height walls come on top, priced on the visit.
Can a Ken Bangsar studio be furnished to let?
Yes. Studios here are let by the month as well as on longer leases, so the brief favours hard-wearing fabrics, generous storage and furniture that survives a change of tenant. We design it like any home, and the fee is agreed in writing first.
Will new air-conditioners undo the building’s green design?
Not if they’re chosen well. Ken Bangsar was built to Green Mark GoldPLUS, with efficient air-conditioning and laminated low-E glass. Replacing 2009 units with efficient inverter models, switching to LED lighting and using low-VOC paints keeps to that spirit.
A 2009 home on Jalan Kapas, ready for its next chapter?
Studio, 3+1 or triplex, lived in or let? Send us your type, a few photos and the figure you have in mind. The first call is free, and before you commit to anything, we write down what our fee is likely to be.
Free · your fee is agreed in writing before we start