Malaysia is a country filled with much history and culture within its states such as Penang. Located at the northwest coast of the Peninsular Malaysia, Penang is rich with culture and history, and this can be seen in Beach Street, the city’s central business district and its oldest street.
Beach Street was created in 1786 and has 200 years of history and culture within. It has served as the main hub for commerce and finance of George Town, Penang. Located near the Port of Penang, it has brought many European Traders and Merchants which made up the bulk of trading in Penang. In 1875, many banks and government administrative offices were also established and have now become famous landmarks.
These buildings were built with unique architecture featuring an Art Deco style, Victorian style and even a hybrid of Palladian and Art Deco which has stood the test of time. The buildings are famous landmarks now at Beach Street such as the India house and the Saw Seng Kew Building.
India House was a 2-story building with Indian Art Deco style and constructed in 1937. The distinctness of the India House is the head of an Indian Elephant on the façade of the building. It served as the bank for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation headquarters and was also used by the United States Information Service until the 1970s.
Saw Seng Kew Building once occupied businesses including Cunningham Clarke & Co. and Lux Brothers. The building was designed and owned by Stark & McNeill, built in the early 1920s formerly known as the British India House and once also housed the Southern Bank, which was founded by Saw Seng Kew, who acquired the building in the 1960s which now houses a real estate business. The Saw Brother’s Realty decided to start a project for adaptive reuse of the old storage godowns into F&B outlets to fully utilize the space. You can visit the reused godowns turned F&B outlets at Beach Street such as Wooden Wagon, Wonkie Ice Cream and Kaka Ramen.
If you are looking for a unique place to visit, then you should come to Beach Street to immerse yourselves in its rich history and culture.
