The Kampung Tirok, Terengganu Chinese Peranakan community architectural heritage displays a unique genre that conjoined to traditional Chinese Fujian with traditional Malay from Terengganu. Significantly, unlike in Penang and Malacca where the culture-bending Chinese Peranakan shophouses and other colonial elements took centre stage, Kampung Tirok traditional houses have allowed their architectural expressions to be enriched, even ruled, by the place and time in which they developed. These structures had modest space organization, simple ornament, local materials, and elements that facilitated ventilation and acclimatization. This research explores the specific architectural features that provides a tropical sustainable Chinese Peranakan house the sensitiveness to the social-cultural identity and the support for their historical development in the Kampung Tirok area. From a qualitative case study perspective, the study consisted of interviews with houseowners, architects and historians; a focus group survey with 30 local residents. The present study applies simple descriptive and thematic analyses to investigate key architectural characteristics and their role in cultural heritage and environmental sustainability. It is part of larger study which demonstrated these vernacular houses are cultural identity markers and also show the adaptability of these types on the tropical climate of Terengganu. Their arrangement fosters a mix of privacy and sociability and simple blend decorative elements co-mingle with Chinese and Malay symbols and motifs. This paper contributes to the discourse of heritage conservation by highlighting the importance of safeguarding the Chinese Peranakan architectural identity in Kampung Tirok. An interest in these unique architectural features might lead to new understandings of policy, architects and conservationists that can enhance the sustainability of positive preservation decisions. In addition, this rethinking also reinforces the development of the traditional thinking in the current architectural practices, it deduces the attention to the cultural context and heritage as keys for the future of architectural trends.