The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Building is a historical building in

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Opened in 1931, it continues to serve as Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's (

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

) main branch in Ipoh.

History

Hongkong and Shanghai Bank opened its first branch in Ipoh on 14 March 1910 operating from a small wooden building provided by the government situated near Ipoh post office. Later it moved to Station Road (now Jalan Dato' Maharajalela) where it leased part of the ground floor of the

Straits Trading Company The Straits Trading Company Limited is a Singapore-based corporation with operations in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as various localities in Asia and Australia. Founded in 1887, the company was the result of a partnership for tin smelting bet ...

's premises. During the late 1920s, the Bank acquired the site for its new premises in the town's commercial centre when it purchased a block of six shop-houses in Belfield Street (now Jalan Sultan Yusuf) from a Chinese owner, who a year previously had acquired the block from Sime, Darby & Co, paying what was reported to be a sum in excess of $100,000 Straits. Situated at the corner of Belfield Street and Hale Street (now Jalan Tun Sambanthan), the construction of the building was completed in 1931, and was opened at a formal ceremony on 31 October 1931 by the Sultan of Perak in the presence of a large gathering including the British Resident Bertram Elles, and manager J.H.Lind.

Description

Constructed in the

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

style, the building was the tallest in the town during the pre-independence era. Finished externally in artificial granite, the building consists of four storeys with the banking hall on the ground floor finished using Italian marble.

References

{{coord, 4.59773, 101.07503, format=dms, type:landmark_region:MY, display=title 1931 establishments in British Malaya Buildings and structures in Ipoh