Why Colony is opening a co-working and event space in Setia Alam

[This is a sponsored article with Colony.]

“A place brings people in the door. The best experience is what they remember.” It is this philosophy that brought the Colony to Setia Alam.

Covering 11,454 sq ft on the 9th floor of Sunsuria Forum, this expansion marks a new chapter for Colony, the first time beyond the city centre. Some may find the choice of location strange, as it is 40 minutes away from KL, but it was by no means a snap decision.

In fact, Colony @ Setia Alam has been operating since December 2022, before the COVID-19 MCO was lifted.

Anticipating the trend, the Colony team quickly realized that people no longer separate work, lifestyle, and social experiences in the same way.

“As mixed-use work has become more common, well-planned suburban townships (like Setia Alam) have evolved into ecosystems that can support the best places, not just as alternatives to the city, but as destinations in their own right,” said Timothy Tiah, CEO of Colony.

Why Setia Alam, and why now?

From the beginning, Colony @ Setia Alam was not treated as a second place. It is designed to bring the same sense of impact as other Colony locations in the city.

The space draws on its path led by the design signature. This latest location takes Neo-Regency influences and reinterprets them in a modern setting, emphasizing light and airy interiors, high ceilings, and spatial clarity.

Visitors will notice that this space builds on the visual identity also seen at Colony @ The MET, Mont Kiara.

It takes the same modern interior with a monochromatic color palette and beautiful paneling. But where Colony @ The MET showcased a cool Japanese aesthetic in some rooms, Colony @ Setia Alam offers function halls in rustic and English styles respectively.

This gives customers many design options when looking for a work or event space from an award-winning brand that best suits their needs. But one place that should not be missed is the heart of Colony @ Setia Alam—The Conservatory.

The ballroom is decorated with classic black and white tiles, while its glass roof brings natural night, which transforms the space throughout the day. This flexibility makes the venue suitable for weddings, corporate events, and private celebrations of all kinds for up to 200 guests.

“Design is important because it is what creates the first impression. It is often what removes the doubts people have about choosing a place outside the city,” said Timothy. “Visitors often arrive with assumptions about scale, quality or experience, and those assumptions are reinforced or shattered within the first few seconds.”

Creating impact through design

Thoughtful design aside, Colony’s CEO noted that there are two key things that transform a place from just a place to one that provides information:

1. How well the space is run.
2. How customers are taken care of from start to finish.

In other words, the level of care and detail when providing hospitality, is a core learning from closing Colony’s Star Boulevard location.

The CEO shared with us in February 2025 that the limitations of the pandemic unfortunately led to Star Boulevard becoming a loss-making unit that had to be terminated. But the team saw it as a deliberate reset rather than a setback. “It gave us an opportunity to reassess how we use money and energy as the business grows.”

“We have always believed in managing the company in an orderly and tax-free manner and reinvesting in the business, not only in difficult times, but even when things are going well. What reinforces that is the importance of choice.”

Moving forward, Colony is focused on establishing a few but highly selected spaces where design, hospitality, and knowledge can be preserved.

This new location of Setia Alam is part of the brand’s renewed strategy, which focuses on developing regions, as well as growing residential and commercial communities.

As work and social boundaries continue to blur, flexibility has become central to how people use space. Colony’s future spaces are designed to easily transition between focused work and collaborative events without feeling disjointed.

Taking a more selective approach

In the wider Malaysian world of co-working and events, Colony sees a growing demand for high-quality work and event spaces beyond central KL.

“We see Colony playing a role in changing the mindset that premium events and gatherings need to be concentrated in the city center. As the way people live and work continue to be separated, expectations are changing. People want the same level of experience close to where their lives already are,” commented Timothy.

Therefore, the brand makes it their mission to bring those standards to emerging areas without compromising on experience. Their hope is to support a balanced ecosystem in which work, events and social occasions can take place beneficially in different parts of the country.

The Colony @ Setia Alam is now accepting visitors as part of its soft opening period in March 2026. Interested visitors can learn more about the space and its offerings here.

• Learn more about Colony here.
• Read other stories we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Colony