City Hall, Penang

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Frontal view of the City Hall, Penang

City Hall, Penang is recognised as national monument in Malaysia. It is a two-storey building situated at the Esplanade in the state of Penang and has a significant historical and architectural value. It is believed that the building was specifically built to house council/municipal offices in the early days. It currently houses the Penang Municipal Council Chambers and two departments – the Licensing and the Urban Services departments.

1 Architecture
2 Restoration
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Architecture

Built in 1903 in the typical British Palladian architectural style, the building has been listed as a national monument since 1982 under the Antiquities Act 1976. The design of the City Hall building bears a resemblance to the nearby Town Hall, which features the balcony as a main element overlooking the Esplanade.

[edit] Restoration

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Housing, Building and Planning’s Assoc Prof Dr A. Ghafar Ahmad in his paper ‘Restoration and Refurbishment of Old City Hall, George Town, Penang’, said the building, like most other heritage buildings, became susceptible to deterioration. The paper was written together with architect Haris Fadzilah Abdul Rahman.

Therefore, the restoration of the City Hall building is an important milestone in efforts to conserve one of Malaysia’s invaluable heritage buildings.

The Penang Municipal Council had allocated RM3.58mil to restore and refurbish three-quarters of the ground level of the building which was found to be structurally unsound.

Arkitek Urbanisma Sdn Bhd executive director Nik Rahiman Nik Mohd Taib, whose firm was responsible for the restoration works, said the project was carried out in two stages between April 2004 and April 2005.

Stage One involved the restoration of the building structures and elements, salt desalination and termite treatment while Stage Two included the interior refurbishment of the council chamber, main lobby, councillors’ offices, mezzanine floor, dining hall and toilets.

The challenge posed was in retaining the authentic building structures and fabric whilst fulfilling the functional requirements of an office environment.

The Council Chamber is equipped with state-of-the-art conferencing system, including audio visual, computer, Internet networking and LCD projector.