Sunday, August 10, 2008

Istana Bukit Zaharah (1858), Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia


Building History

Upon its completion in 1858, this building was used specifically for royal ceremonies such as the inauguration of the sultan and royal weddings. The ground level was used as a museum for the antique cars of Sultan Abu Bakar and Sultan Ibrahim.

Upon the completion of Sultan Abu Bakar Grand Palace, the royal residence was moved to the new palace and this building was left vacant. From the 1970s until the end of 1980s this building was used as the Bukit Zaharah Religious School. However, when the religious school was moved to a new building in Jalan Yahya Awal, the building was left abandoned until today.

The design concept of this building reflects the influence of western architecture. This is clearly shown in the plan and elevation of the building. The plan, which is in the shape of a letter 't' is similar to the clover flower split into four. The design is chosen to accommodate four main groups of foreign dignitaries like the Malays, English, Chinese and Indians during the royal functions.

The Western architectural features can be seen in the use of classical ionic columns, decorative plasters for the outer walls and interiors of the building and decorative glass above the windows and doors of keystone shape. Similar to other western architectural features, the windows of this building are of segmental shape.

6 comments:

nanajay said...

kenape tak boleh pegi berseorangan???

Anonymous said...

actually it was an English School for a very long time (I suspect from as early as 1863) because it is well known that when the English College was founded the first batch of students were from here. My grandmother also studied in this school in the 1940's

Anonymous said...

salam..how can i get in touch with this author (kamarul shahril)? we are doind a study on this particular building..hope to find more information..thank you

ikee said...

salam,
Im student of building surveying. currently doing research on this building.can i have more infos regarding this building?thanks

Anonymous said...

you guys can no more to go to this place;closely...the building still there but no one could enter this place

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am quite interested to take photo at this place. May I know why no one could enter this place?

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