Interior designer at Sastra U-Thant
Every lift opens into a courtyard.
So home begins before the door.
Thoughtfully designed around the way you live, and what you’d like to spend.
Why does a lift opening into your own courtyard change the brief at Sastra U-Thant?
A ten-storey building of 126 homes, where each home’s private lift was designed to open into its own courtyard and most homes face inwards over a 50-metre pool garden. So the work here is the arrival, the wet and dry kitchens most listings show and thirteen years of wear.
Sundays in Bed is a Kuala Lumpur studio that designs homes one room at a time. We haven’t yet designed a home at Sastra, so we would begin yours the usual way: on site, with a tape measure.
Sastra sits on Lorong Ampang 2 in Taman U-Thant, where buildings are capped at ten storeys. CapitaLand and Juta Asia developed it as a freehold building, BEP Akitek drew it, and owners took their keys in 2013.
Sastra’s homes come in three main built-up sizes:
- 1,744–1,884 sq ftThree bedrooms, plus a utility room or store
- 2,034–2,702 sq ftThree or four bedrooms, often with a utility room
- 5,500–6,070 sq ftPenthouses with private pools
What sets them apart is the arrival. The launch material described every lift opening straight into the home’s own courtyard, and some were given a dip pool. That open-air room is your foyer, and it weathers like a garden.
Thirteen years on, original kitchens, bathrooms and air-conditioners are reaching the age of replacement, and plenty of homes here have been let. So we find out what earlier owners or tenants changed, and what’s behind the walls, before drawing a line.
At Sastra, which comes first: the courtyard, the two kitchens or what thirteen years have worn?
Where you arrive, where you cook and what has aged. Settle those three at Sastra and most of the budget follows.
The courtyard. Your lift opens into it, so it does a foyer’s job: shoes, deliveries, somewhere to sit, a plant that survives. Being open to the weather, it needs finishes chosen for rain and sun, and drains kept clear.
The dip pool. The launch material gave one to sky villas and some courtyard homes. After thirteen years, its waterproofing and pump get checked before anyone tiles round it or decks over it, because a leak here travels to the home below.
Two kitchens. Homes here are described with a dry kitchen on show and a wet one for real cooking. We usually keep that split: the dry side becomes breakfast bar or pantry, the wet side earns the stronger hood and hard-wearing tops.
The inward view. Most homes face the 50-metre pool garden rather than the road, and the facade’s sunscreens and fins were designed to cut heat. So curtains lean towards privacy from neighbours across the garden, not heavy blackout.
What still works. A 2013 kitchen carcass, wardrobe or floor in good order gets new doors, a polish or better lighting rather than a skip. That leaves the money for what thirteen years, or a run of tenants, have worn out.
What does it cost to design and furnish a Sastra U-Thant courtyard suite?
For a 3+1 courtyard suite here, the Sundays in Bed design fee is estimated at RM30,440–37,570; for a 2,702 sq ft 4+1, RM37,570–44,700. 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 courtyard suite here comes to about RM283k–463k in all.
Spend where it matters. Skip what doesn’t. At Sastra that tends to be the wet kitchen, the courtyard and the master bath. Pick a home type and switch on only the rooms you want drawn; each figure is an estimate until contractors quote.
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the dry and wet kitchens: 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 suite 1,744 sq ft Estimated fee RM30,440–37,570 | RM253k–432k | RM477k–908k |
| 4+1 2,702 sq ft Estimated fee RM37,570–44,700 | RM300k–537k | RM558k–1.11M |
| Penthouse 5,500–6,070 sq ft · rooms as a 4+1; pool and any terrace extra Estimated fee RM37,570–44,700 | RM305k–594k | RM565k–1.22M |
The lower figure is a typical layout: living and dining, both kitchens, each bedroom and all but one bathroom. The higher allows one more room, or two in homes of 1,200 sq ft and up: that last bathroom, or the utility room as a study.
Curated prices furniture from Commune, Cellini or Poet Living; Bespoke, from Space Furniture, BoConcept or Molteni&C. These are October 2026 guides, and only your contractors issue quotations.
Each type counts its bathrooms minus one, since a 2013 home rarely needs every bathroom redesigned, and the wet and dry kitchens count as two rooms. Works in the courtyard and any dip pool aren’t in these figures; the utility room counts as a room only if you want it designed as a study.
The penthouse row assumes four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It prices the same rooms as a 4+1, so a penthouse’s extra floor area, private pool and any rooftop terrace come on top; the site visit puts a figure on those.
The ranges assume new kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, hob, hood and air-conditioners. Some homes here still have the developer’s kitchen and appliances; keep the sound ones and expect less.
Furnishing to let? In October 2026, one property portal listed 42 Sastra homes for rent. 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 suite RM143k–222k · 4+1 RM171k–277k · Penthouse RM174k–305k.
Your design fee adds up room by room: RM3,565 for each bedroom, bathroom, study or kitchen we design, and RM5,485 for the living and dining together. Here the wet and dry kitchens are two of those rooms; a bathroom you keep isn’t one. At penthouse size, we’d expect most owners to choose Bespoke.
The total goes into our agreement before work starts, then is paid in stages. It isn’t linked to what contractors charge, so choosing marble over tiles for the courtyard floor changes their bill, never our fee.
Your budget comes first in the conversation, whether it’s for a 1,744 sq ft suite or a penthouse with its own pool. You set the figure; we design to fit inside it.
How does a renovation run when every Sastra home has its own lift?
Whether you live at Sastra or let it out, one designer stays with your home from the opening call to the day the rooms are dressed. We design and manage; licensed contractors build, and you pick them from quotes we gather and weigh up with you.
- The first call FreeCourtyard suite, 4+1 or penthouse; whether you live in it or let it; what an earlier owner changed; and the spend you have in mind.
- The site visit RM200, waived if you go ahead with usWe measure every room and the courtyard, look over the dip pool if there is one, open the distribution board, and note which kitchen units deserve to stay.
- The scope, then the designRooms, budget and our fee go on paper first. Then come the plan for both kitchens and the courtyard arrival, followed by lighting, joinery and materials.
- Drawings and quotesA drawing set detailed enough for contractors to price line by line. Their quotes come back to us, we go through each one with you, and the builder is your choice.
- The works, then moving inWe clear access and hours with management, protect your private lift, check each stage against the drawings, then dress the rooms before you or your tenant arrive.
In a home handed over in 2013, sequence matters: pipes, wiring and any waterproofing first, then ceilings, floors and joinery. A courtyard leak found after new tiles are down is the expensive kind. Keeping that order is our job, not yours. The full process
DBKL and Sastra’s management. Sastra is in Kuala Lumpur, so DBKL issues the renovation permit, usually applied for by your licensed contractor. Management will normally want to see the drawings, especially for work touching the courtyard, a dip pool or the facade.
Sastra’s renovation deposit, working hours and rules for contractors using the lifts aren’t published. We ask for them in writing before scheduling anything.
Will my home look like the one across the garden?
It shouldn’t. Sastra’s 126 homes share a handful of sizes and one pool garden, but not a household. A family with a helper and teenagers needs a different suite from a couple who let theirs half the year.
So we start with how the home is used: who cooks in the wet kitchen, who sits out in the courtyard, where guests and a helper sleep. The look follows. At 1,744 sq ft and up, almost any look fits; the care goes into fitting the household.
What an older Sastra U-Thant home usually needs
- KeepCourtyard, outlookThe private courtyard and the inward view over the pool garden; we design to them, not over them
- AdaptKitchens, bathroomsA wet and dry kitchen pair and three or four bathrooms dating from 2013
- AddA job for the spare roomThe utility room, as a helper’s room, store or study
Sastra’s handover specification isn’t published, and many homes have changed since 2013. The site visit shows what yours has.
What homes this size have cost nearby
We haven’t designed a Sastra home yet, and there’s no Ampang cost index. The nearest guide is the published renovation records for KLCC, a short drive along Jalan Ampang, which include homes of Sastra’s size.
Four Seasons Place: two homes of 1,570–2,500 sq ft, at RM120–191 per sq ft. The Mews: 2,066 sq ft for RM400,000.
At KLCC’s median of RM158 per sq ft, a 1,744 sq ft courtyard suite comes to about RM276,000 and a 2,702 sq ft 4+1 nearer RM427,000, both inside the Curated ranges above. A home keeping its 2013 kitchen would need less.
Each tower’s figures are on our KLCC renovation cost index.
Nearby, with their own pages: Ampang · U-Thant Residence · The Atrium · KLCC
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.
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What Sastra U-Thant owners tend to ask
Can the courtyard become part of the home?
Partly. It’s where your lift opens, so it already works as an entrance. Furnishing, planting and lighting it rarely needs more than a word with management. Enclosing or roofing it changes the facade, which management, and possibly DBKL, must approve first, so we check before drawing either.
Is the dip pool worth keeping?
Usually, if it still holds water. After thirteen years we have its waterproofing and pump checked before any tiling or decking goes near it. It can become a planter or a deck, but the drains and the ceiling below need checking first.
What does a Sastra courtyard suite cost to renovate and furnish?
A 1,744 sq ft 3+1 typically takes RM253k–432k at Curated (Commune, Cellini or Poet Living), or RM477k–908k at Bespoke (Space Furniture, BoConcept or Molteni&C), before our fee. Keeping a sound 2013 kitchen or bathroom brings it down.
Should we keep both the wet and dry kitchens?
In most homes, yes. The dry kitchen stays tidy for breakfast and guests; the wet one handles the wok and the laundry. We would rather give the wet kitchen a stronger hood and tougher surfaces than knock the two into one open kitchen.
We let our Sastra home. Can you design it for tenants?
Yes. For a home that’s let, we choose hard-wearing surfaces, simple joinery and furniture that’s easy to replace, and keep the courtyard easy to look after. Timing the works between tenancies keeps the empty months to a minimum.
Who approves a renovation at Sastra U-Thant?
DBKL issues the permit, normally through your licensed contractor, and Sastra’s management usually reviews the drawings. Its deposit, working hours and lift rules aren’t published, so we get the current terms in writing before booking contractors.
Holding the keys to a Sastra courtyard suite?
A courtyard suite you live in, a 4+1 between tenants, or a penthouse with its own pool? Send the size, a floor plan if you have one, and a rough budget. The first call is free. We begin on site with a tape measure, and your estimated fee comes in writing before anything is signed.
Free · your fee is agreed in writing before we start