Penang Town Hall is reported to be built in 1879 at The Esplanade and was designed by two British Army engineers, Captains Innes and Satterthwaite. It housed the oldest local government in British Malaya, the Municipal Commission of Georgetown. After the municipal relocated to Penang City Hall in 1903, Penang Town Hall became the most prestigious social venue for the elite in Penang Island and received the moniker ang moh kong kuan, or “European Club” in Penang Hokkien.
Currently it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site Category I Building, thus the material and building methods must be kept authentic and traditional. Renovations to the building have been done five times prior, the most recent one being in 2004. However, in 2019 the interior of the town hall was found to be in a state of disrepair and abandonment: Plaster peeling off and moss growing on the walls, exposed bricks and mud and animal faeces everywhere.
The exposé was swiftly followed by an open tender by Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (MBPP) for restoration and upgrading works worth RM8 million which is predicted to finish by the end of 2021, where we were appointed as Sustainability and Green Consultants. Once restored, Penang Town Hall will serve as an event space for the people of Penang Island.
Turning a UNESCO World Heritage Site Category I Building green is more challenging when no changes to the façade and aesthetics are permitted. For example, repairing a door or window frame means the original structure must be kept intact and material must be transferred from a source with a similar carbon age. To counter this, we will be stepping away from the usual energy efficient features such as daylighting, rainwater harvesting, etc.
For energy preservation, LEDs, high efficiency air conditioners and motion sensors will be used and building performance monitoring will be adopted to the EMS. All floors will be at least 30% naturally daylit. A passive design will also be adopted to reduce usage of air conditioning. And for sanitation, low-flush toilets as a well as a leak detection system will be utilized.
According to Julian, the fallacy of judging a building by its appearance is crucial: after some investigation past surface level, there were more underlying problems that needed to be fixed. “We’re trying our best to restore better than the previous attempts,” he says.
Another interesting aspect to the project is the preservation process. Our team must go through training and comply the strict regulations from conservators to design in compliance with UNESCO. But with new rules comes creativity, as we are now exploring modern innovations to obtain a GBI Certification for the town hall.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank BYG Architecture Sdn Bhd and MBPP for appointing us as Sustainability and Green Consultants of this historic project.
