Flooded with light: A Penang shophouse transformed

Here is a study in contrasts: a tranquil residence just yards from a bustling and colourful street scene; a thoroughly Chinese-European-Malay Straits Settlements amalgam situated in George Town’s Little India; above all, one of the oldest shophouses in Penang, probably dating from the 1830s, transformed by the ingenuity of a 21st century designer. This transformation is the work of French architect, Guillaume Kuhlmann, and his Malaysian wife. At its heart has been the maintenance of the look and feel of the shophouse while creating an optimum environment for the modern age. The former challenge has been met by a consistent use of traditional materials – whether timber in the staircase, white-grey Ipoh marble in the bathrooms, encaustic tiles on the floors – and good conservation practices, but the latter is where design ingenuity is apparent. The perennial design challenge with shophouses is introducing light into what historically are quite dark spaces. Kuhlmann has gone for radical solutions, both externally and internally. Externally, the entire rear elevation of the property had collapsed shortly after the current owners had purchased it in…

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