Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Malayan Railway Headquarters Building

There is a beautiful structure along Hishamudin Road which house the headquarters of Keretapi Tanah Melayu from the day it was built until today.

It is strategically located opposite the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. That Railway Station used to be the main railway station for the city before been replaced by KL Sentral few years back.

This splendid building was designed in 1913 by a British architect named Mr. A.B. Hubback. Construction work began in 1914 by a local contractor and the building was finally completed in November 1917 after interruption of the First World War. This building is a fine example of Moorish architecture reflecting the Ottoman and Mogul glory of the 13th and 14th centuries blended Gothic and ancient Greek design of the 14th century.


The ground floor is adorned with 97 large frontal Gothic arches and 4 smaller arches. The high and wide verandahs skirting the building create a cooling effect and are suitable for the constant high climatic temperatures in Malaysia.

The first floor has 94 large arched windows of Gothic design and 4 circular arches of smaller size. The second floor has 171 Gothic arches and 4 large and 12 smaller circular arches.

Five domes sit majestically on top of the building, each surrounded at four corners entwined columns. They are of orthodox Greek design typical in the 14th century.

This historical building suffered serious damage twice in its lifetime, firstly during the Second World War when its North wing was bombed and secondly when the same wing on the second floor was gutted by fire in 14 November 1968

3 comments:

Reanaclaire said...

wow..is this really in KL? I never really really observed this before..

soulesscloudy said...

I wonder why outside of the building not painted?

wenn said...

awesome building!