Site edit

The site from which Komtar now occupies was originally a stretch of the Prangin River, which ran through a swamp. Upon the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, the construction of a defensive stone canal began under probable directions from the British East India Company in 1804.^[14] The canal was approximately 50 to 80 feet (15 to 24 m) wide. Its base was constructed with bakau pillars and shorewood and was filled with granite blocks. The canal was meant for agricultural and commercial uses, and marked the furthest boundaries of George Town at the time.^[15]

The location of the canal, being at the very end of the town, was first noted by the Malay population under the name Ujong Pasir, and was later remarked by the local Chinese population in Hokkien as Sia Boey, both coincidentally carrying the same meaning of the "end of the village" (other historians suggested that the term Sia Boey might also mean "a place to sell scrap, or cheap sundry").^[16] In 1806, a marketplace was set up at Sia Boey, which evolved into the Sia Boey Market.^[17] Since the 1880s, the market centered around an iron market hall, before closing down permanently in 2004.^[18] The canal was narrowed in the 1890s to a width of 20 feet (6.1 m) and a depth of 5 feet (1.5 m).^[19] In the 1930s, the area witnessed an economic boom where new businesses were established along the canal.^[20]

Adjacent to the site was the Magazine Circus, a roundabout converging on a junction of six roads – Macalister, Dato' Keramat, Penang, Magazine, Brick Kiln, and Gladstone Road. The Malays named it Simpang Enam ("the six-way junction"), while the Chinese called it Go Pha Teng ("the five lamps"), as a reference to street lamps set up at the junction. In 1928, the first traffic lights in Penang were set up at the roundabout.^[21] During the Japanese bombing of Penang in December 1941, Sia Boey Market received a direct hit from a bomb, killing hundreds of market-goers.^[18]

Creation of Komtar edit

In 1962, the Penang state government proposed to develop a hawker centre in an area around Prangin Road.^[8] Malayan architecture firm Malayan Architects Co-Partnership was contracted for the project, but it stalled within months.^[22]

When Lim Chong Eu took up the position of chief minister in 1969, he was immediately confronted with the rescindment by the Malaysian federal government of George Town's free port status, which sparked massive unemployment, brain drain, and urban decay in the city.^[23] As a means to address these challenges, Lim ordered the establishment of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) as a development arm of the state government.^[24] The PDC focused on resolving urban overcrowding by constructing inexpensive multi-storey apartment blocks. Four sites within George Town were designated by the PDC as "Comprehensive Development Areas" for urban redevelopment, which included the construction of low-cost flats on reclaimed land and urban renewal programmes.^[25]

In 1969, the PDC approved a "central area planning unit" (CAPU) for monitoring residential and highway infrastructural projects in George Town. Between 1969 and 1970, the original hawker centre proposal around Prangin Road was redesignated by the CAPU as the Central Area Redevelopment Plan, a precursor of Komtar.^[6]

Design edit

In 1970, the state government selected Singaporean architectural firm Architects Team Three (AT3) for the CAPU, with Lim Chong Keat as the lead architect.^[13] Ove Arup was selected as the civil and structural engineer for the project.^[26] Plans for a new urban centre was first announced publicly on 18 November 1970.^[27] The CAPU conducted extensive planning studies of the Urban Centre in 1971.^[6] It was concluded in August 1972 that the recommended site of the urban centre should be bounded by the Penang, Prangin, Magazine Roads and Beach Street, on a site 22.4 acres (9.1 ha) in area, with parking for 3,000 vehicles.^[28] Additional input from CAPU were made from experts in the University of Penang and a traffic consultant.^[8]

Planning of the complex is divided into five different phases; the main complex occupies the first two phases.^[12] Phase one, with 301,000 square feet (28,000 m²) in land area, involved a four-storey retail podium, a geodesic dome, and a central skyscraper.^[29][28] It was aimed at combating against the declining inner-city trade after the 1960s, by integrating a commercial district into the civic centre with a Western-style shopping arcade, where emerging middle-class shoppers living in the city's suburbs can shop in.^[30] The shopping arcade, which occupies three out of four-storeys of the podium, contains 460,000 square feet (43,000 m²) of retail space.^[31] The podium also houses a bus terminal, a public theater, national archives, police and fire stations, and a rooftop indoor orchid garden with a reflective pool.^[32][33] A hotel for travelers, known as the Hotel De Jour, would be within the third floor of the podium.^[34]

A geodesic dome is positioned above the podium.^[35] The geodesic dome, positioned directly adjacent to the reflective pool, was originally 48 metres (157 ft) in diameter and designed as a multipurpose hall with 1,875 seats.^[36][37] It was designed as an all-aluminium, column-free structure, entirely prefabricated from computer designs.^[38] The interior of the structure was covered with K-13 spray foam for better indoor acoustics.^[39] The dome was influenced by the designs of Buckminster Fuller – a special consultant of the CAPU who supervised its construction.^[32][40] The skyscraper carries in the form of a 45 or 47 storey 12-sided cylinder column divided into two stages, and was designed with 640,000 square feet (59,000 m²) of office space.^[31][41] The foundations of the tower block are capable of supporting 65 storeys for future developments.^[42] Thirty-two high speed lifts are fitted in the complex, with 24 in the tower, each capable of travelling at 1,200 feet (370 m) per minute; while six pairs of escalators are installed in the podium.^[34]

The second phase involves the extension of the podium, with 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m²) of retail space and several civic amenities.^[29] To accommodate the displaced residents from the construction site, three 17-storey apartment blocks were allocated for the two phases.^[12] The first block, with 194 flats, is designed as a "controlled social programme", planned and sold for selected families of mixed races; these blocks also house several amenities, where access corridors between them are thought of as "streets". The three apartment blocks would house 800 households, with an emphasis on accommodating lower-income groups.^[43] These communities would be linked to a clubhouse, a library, communal swimming pools, and several cafes.^[32] All three residential blocks are connected with enclosed bridges on the ninth floor.^[31]

Under Lim Chong Eu's vision, the Urban Centre is conceived to be a step in "progressive" urban planning on behalf of the Penang state government.^[44] The centre was expected to ease congestion and clear the slums from George Town's city centre which sprung up after the 1960s recession.^[45] The complex was described by Lim as a "sign of collaboration" between the federal government and the Penang state government, and "marks a new era for the city of George Town".^[44] It was given priority in the New Economic Policy championed under Prime Minister Abdul Razak's administration, who stated that the success of this project "will change the outlook of George Town from a colonial heritage to a city reflecting a Malaysian society".^[46]

Location-wise, it was designed to link with a new coastal highway system that leads to a cross-strait linkage and the Penang International Airport.^[44] Construction of phase one was projected to raise the total revenue in the region from RM114,000 in 1974 to RM3 million in 1984, which would be used as funds for maintenance and upkeep for the civic centre's amenities.^[47][32]

Construction (1972–1986) edit

In 1972, the PDC began the implementation of phase one of the master plan.^[32] 182,516 square feet (16,956.3 m²) of land was owned by the City Council and state government for the construction of phase one. Between 1972 and 1973, the state government acquired the necessary land for construction, predominantly from inherited landlords of the Straits Chinese elite.^[48] The total cost of the land and property acquisition was estimated at RM26.2 million in 1977.^[49]

Before the construction, an estimated 769 residential units, 304 shops, 14 industries, four cinemas, three schools, a vehicles' office, a post station and a fire station around the site were demolished.^[50] The demolition displaced 3,175 residents to other parts of the city, including Jelutong, Bayan Baru and the PDC-funded Macallum Street Ghaut neighbourhood.^[48] The Magazine Circus and a huge section of Gladstone Road was removed as well.^[51] By 1973, the state government projected the total cost of the entire complex at RM200 million (RM1.04 billion in 2023 value);^[52] phase one at RM77.6 million, with RM40.8 million allocated for the skyscraper.^[53] The call of tender for the project's construction concluded in December that year.^[54]

Piling works of the complex concluded at the end of 1973.^[55] Groundwork of the complex was supported by a three-metre thick reinforced concrete raft foundation, with 860 composite piles up to 54 metres (177 ft) deep.^[56][57] These enabled the complex to be resistant to tremors up to four on the Modified Mercalli scale.^[57] Actual construction began on 1 January 1974, in a ceremony officiated by Malaysian prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein.^[46] It took place on a 0.4 hectares (1 acre) site, which involves 70 units of retail and office space, where 34 per cent of the total area was reserved to bumiputeras.^[58] A two-week exhibition regarding the urban scheme was held near the construction site between 10 and 24 January 1974.^[59] In May 1974, work progressed to the main tower block.^[60]

Construction of phase one was divided into four stages (phases 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D). Phase 1A, a four-storey retail podium, was planned to be completed by October 1976.^[61] It received a soft opening on 2 December 1976.^[58] Piling works for phase 1B, which consists of an extension of the four-storey podium and a skyscraper, began in November 1975.^[62] Initially, it was expected that the next three stages would be completed by September 1978, 1979, and 1980 respectively, while the skyscraper would top out in 1981.^[61] However, the complex was plagued by repeated delays, with phase 1B delayed to July 1979 and later to June 1980.^[63][64] Starting from late-1975, hampered by delays, building costs inflated dramatically, with costs rising almost 15 per cent annually as delays progressed. The initial budget for phase one had risen to RM136.2 million by May 1975, and to RM151.8 million by September 1979.^[61][65] Construction of the tower block was delayed as well, with stage one (up to the 29th storey) scheduled for completion by September 1981, and stage two (29th to 47th storey) for February 1983.^[64]

In January 1983, construction moved to phase two, which was subdivided into five stages; an electric substation (phase 2A), a department complex (phase 2B), an 11-storey car park with 750 parking spaces (phase 2C), the geodesic dome (phase 2D) and an 11-acre (480,000 sq ft) rooftop garden above the main podium (phase 2E).^[e] The total cost of the second phase was estimated at RM110 million.^[66] A further RM7 million was allocated for the geodesic dome.^[39] However, work was abruptly halted when a major fire broke out on the tower between 23 and 24 January, which gutted the 41st to 47th floors.^[67] The fire was reportedly visible across the Penang Strait at Perai, and required the mobilisation of fire fighting units as far as Nibong Tebal.^[68] Investigations determined that it was likely caused by welding sparks.^[69]

Construction resumed by mid-1983, reaching the 60th floor by 1984.^[70] The skyscraper structurally topped out at the 65th floor on 1 January 1985.^[71] In May 1985, plans for the apartment blocks were scrapped and replaced with a single hotel building.^[72] The hotel opened as the Shangri-La Inn in 1986.^[73][74] The main framework for the geodesic dome was completed and inaugurated in July by Tunku Abdul Rahman.^[36][38] A pedestrian mall was constructed in mid-1990 as the final adjoining part of phase two, occupying half of Maxwell Road and the Prangin Canal, forcing the remnants of the adjacent Prangin Road to merge into a one road.^[75] By 1990 the total cost of the first two phases rose to RM279.5 million (RM642.5 million in 2023 value), even though the state government only collected RM185 million (RM425 million in 2023 value) in revenue from the entire project.^[76]

Expansion (1990–2001) edit

Plans for phases 2E, three, and four were first drafted in 1990–1991. As early as 1989, a parcel of land situated at the junction of Prangin Road and Penang Road, designated phase 2E of the complex, was put up for sale.^[77] In 1991, Malaysian retail chain Metrojaya submitted plans for Metro Plaza, a six-storey department complex for phase 2E.^[78] The complex was to cost RM47 million with 340,000 square feet (32,000 m²) of retail space.^[79] Metrojaya would acquire parcels of land necessary within that year.^[79]

In early-1992, the project was scaled down to a five-storey department complex with 312,000 square feet (29,000 m²) of built-up area, with parking for 240 cars and a staff of 650. Preparation of Metro Plaza began in 1992 with the demolition of the Capitol Theatre and ten other businesses which sat at the site, while construction was projected to complete within three years.^[80] The site remained dormant as of 1995 and it was only in 1996 that talks of construction resumed.^[81][82]

For phase three, Japanese retail group Yaohan proposed to build a nine-storey RM129 million department complex, which was to be completed by 1993. The project sat on an 84,000 square feet (7,800 m²) plot of land running largely parallel to the Prangin Canal, next to phase 2E, and was to be built by Kumagai Gumi.^[83] In 1992, citing its inability to allow majority local participation of the project as required, Yaohan rescinded the 1990 agreement, which led to a private takeover of the site by Lion Group. Demolition works for the site, which began in 1992, involved twelve shophouses, which became a "temporary" parking lot until December 1996.^[84] In November 1996, the state government issued a construction ban of all structures beyond five storeys within the city-centre, threatening phase three's cancellation.^[85] Eventually, Lion Group submitted an updated proposal in 1997, featuring a RM170 million 10-storey shopping complex named Mutiara Parade, which was approved with construction slated to start later that year and expected to finish by 1999.^[84]

Phase four was an extension of the pedestrian mall, stretching 100 metres (330 ft) beyond Carnavon Street while removing the remnants of the partially cleared Maxwell Road.^[75] In 1990, 155 traders along Prangin Road were relocated to within Komtar and Chowrasta Market in preparation for phase four.^[75] Subsequently, the extension was cancelled in favour of Prangin Mall, a 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m²) shopping complex at a cost of RM200 million.^[86] The complex was proposed to equip 73 escalators, two "bubble" lifts, an international food centre, six Parisian cafés, a garden mall and four cinemas with a combined total of 1,800 seats.^[56] Excavation works for Prangin Mall began in 1996.^[87] In December, while piling works were undertaken at the site, nearby residents lodged a police report, disclosing that cracks began to surface on over a hundred houses in surrounding areas and that ground subsidence was sighted.^[88] Komtar reported similar occurrences, even though officials stated that the complex was not under danger.^[56][89]

Investigations by the Malaysian Public Works Institute (Ikram) and Penang state government concluded that excavation and piling works at the Prangin Mall site led to the migration of underground water away from the city centre, leading to subsidence of the surrounding soil.^[88][90] As a response, the state government requested Prangin Mall's developers to submit a geotechnical report on the flaw, although the report did not reach state officials until February 1997.^[90] On 30 January, citing the developers' failure of compliance, Ikram issued a stop work order on Prangin Mall.^[91] Ikram later expanded the stop work order to phase three, noting similar circumstances.^[90]

By March 1997, there were over three hundred reports of houses with cracks.^[89][92] Following this, the developers submitted three mitigation measures to the state government which was approved.^[93] Mitigation works began in April and lasted for 53 days, costing the developers RM6 million.^[94][95][96] Ultimately, after mitigation works were complete, the state government lifted the stop work order for Prangin Mall in June under a 20-point agreement.^[97] The incident has since been described as a "crisis" or a "disaster".^[98][99] The Asian financial crisis which began in late-1997 led to the cancellation of Metro Plaza and Mutiara Parade.^[100][6] Only Prangin Mall was complete by mid-2000, which finally opened in 2001.^[101]

Second expansion (2002–present) edit

The cancellation of Mutiara Parade suspended any construction on phase three until October 2007, when construction began on 1st Avenue, an 11-storey 430,000 square feet (40,000 m²) shopping mall.^[102][103] The development, costing RM300 million, was modeled after Raffles City Singapore.^[104] Construction was completed in June 2010 and opened on 25 November 2010.^[105]

Phase five, which occupied Sia Boey Market, was first planned in 1991 as a mixed retail, office, and residential development. The land was sold in July 1991 at RM31 million to a private developer for potential development scheduled for 1995 or 1996 but was never built.^[106] In 2002, it was planned as a centralised transportation hub, featuring a main interchange terminal of the Bayan Lepas line, a proposed light rail transit line running along Penang Island.^[6] In anticipation of future construction, Sia Boey Market closed in 2004, even though the site remained vacated for years due to uncertainties in the light rail transit project.^[17]

In 2012, phase five was proposed to become an arts district known as the Penang Heritage Square, which featured the complete restoration of heritage shophouses at the site and the construction of a five-storey cultural centre.^[107] This project was relocated to Macallum Street Ghaut in 2016 due to plans for an integrated transport hub at Sia Boey.^[108] An urban park was later included within the phase, becoming the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park. The 2.53 acres (1.02 ha) park, which occupied a disused section of the Prangin Canal, began construction in 2015 and was completed in 2019, costing RM29.1 million.^[109][110] The park opened on 9 November 2019.^[111] In May 2023, the Malaysian federal government would announce a revival in the light rail transit project, subsequently rebranding the Bayan Lepas line as the Mutiara line, which includes a terminal at Komtar as the receiving end of an elevated rail bridge across the Penang Strait towards Seberang Perai.^[112] Construction of the station was originally planned for early-2024, but was later delayed to September or October 2024, with an expected completion date of 2030.^[113][114]

Criticisms edit

During its planning and initial construction, the project was described as unnecessary by opposition politicians from the Democratic Action Party and Pekemas. Both parties vowed to scrap the entire masterplan if they gained control of the state government in the 1974 general elections.^[115] After its construction, opposition came from its expansion through the Prangin Mall and Mutiara Parade projects, and the failure of the complex in achieving its desired objectives, which was to replace dilapidating city slums that sprung up after the 1960s recession in Penang with modernised city blocks.^[116][117]

Lim Chong Keat, the complex's principal architect, was the younger brother of chief minister Lim Chong Eu, which generated accusations of nepotism over the former's selection for the position. Yeap Ghim Guan alleged that the state government paid RM10 million to AT3 for their involvement in the CAPU in 1974, which had been the firm Lim Chong Keat was leading.^[45] This figure was argued to be much lower at RM4.8 million, which includes consultation fees from all development firms.^[118]

The project's actual cost was also disputed. While the entire masterplan was given an RM200 million budget, government sources in September 1975 suggested that between 1973 and 1975, the cost for phase one had already surpassed RM300 million (RM1.18 billion in 2023 value).^[119] In an article from the February–March 1976 issue of the Asian Statist magazine, it was alleged that the cost of construction of the megacomplex had inflated to RM500 million (RM1.91 billion in 2023 value), putting doubts on the state's capabilities to finance the entire project.^[120] It was also argued that the compensation provided by the state government to displaced residents in the project was vastly insufficient.^[121]

After its completion, criticisms shifted to accusations of gentrification.^[122] Kampong Kolam state representative Ooi Ean Kwong said in 1979 that "most people at Komtar go there to pay their electricity bills, not shopping."^[123] American architect Victor Papanek predicted in 1981 that Komtar would fail and become an "eyesore", creating congestion and pollution.^[124]Veerappen Veerathan described the project "will only bring RM200 million of misery".^[125] Karpal Singh remarked in 1985 that Komtar is a "personal monument of Lim Chong Eu", calling it "his Taj Mahal".^[126] The initial occupancy rates in the offices have led Lim Kit Siang to describe Komtar and the contemporary Dayabumi Complex as "white elephants".^[127] This was reflected by poor sales of office space in Komtar, which was impacted by severe office space gluts in 1984. While local, state, and federal offices occupied the "low-zones" (10th to 28th floor) and "mid-zones" (29th to 43rd floor) of the skyscraper, the sale of "high-zone" office space to private sectors was reportedly "not encouraging".^[128]

Furthermore, the controversy over Prangin Mall's construction which resulted in subsidence and damages to the city's heritage quarters has led to calls for the project's cancellation by residents.^[116] It was also feared that the debacle would have created irreversible damages to a substantial portion of the area.^[129]

Decline and revitalisation efforts edit

While Komtar was one of the most popular shopping complexes in Penang in the late 1980s and early 1990s, its status as a premier retail hub declined dramatically in the late 1990s. Starting from the 1970s, the city centre suffered from mass depopulation from displacements of entire neighbourhoods and businesses directly caused by Komtar's construction.^[12] Furthermore, by the 1990s, a combination of factors such as economic decline after the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and rising competition from newer and upscale shopping complexes in the outer suburbs such as Gurney Plaza and Penang Times Square exacerbated the decline. The complex was also poorly maintained and generally disliked by tenants due to its cramped and confusing interior layouts.^[6]

Attempts of renovation were difficult as the Penang state government only owned one-third of all retail units in the complex, while the rest were bought and owned by private businesses, leading to serious disagreements on rental rates and occupancies.^[130] In 2005, the two largest anchor tenants of the complex, Super Komtar and Parkson, ceased operations in rapid succession, which decimated foot traffic in the complex.^[131] At the turn of 2008, it was estimated that 40 per cent of retailers in the complex had closed down.^[6]

With reduced local presence, the complex received an influx of migrant workers, primarily from Nepal, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia, drawing similarities with Lucky Plaza in Singapore and Victoria Park in Hong Kong. Different floors of the complex housed individually segmented groups of immigrants of different nationalities, functioning as an agora for the diaspora.^[132] Komtar is also host to numerous social issues such as homelessness, drug usage, and vandalism.^[133][134] These factors have caused the complex to develop a reputation of being "creepy and unsafe". Other developments such as Komtar Walk, launched in 2009 as a pedestrian mall, was plagued by legal disputes and was demolished and rebuilt in 2019.^[135]

As early as 2001, the Penang state government initiated a programme to shift all government functions at Komtar to a new location at Seberang Perai described as a "mini Putrajaya". It was proposed that Komtar would become a hotel or a commercial centre once the relocation was complete, but the project never took off and was put on hold indefinitely in May 2003. The project was canceled in 2008 under the newly elected government of Lim Guan Eng due to cost issues.^[136] The stalemate over Komtar's development had led to Komtar state assemblyman Lim Gim Soon to propose to convert the complex into a Chinese secondary school.^[137]

Several renovations were undertaken during this period, including one in October 2007 which cost RM10 million, and an RM15 million renovation project in April 2008 aiming at refurbishing the podium.^[137][138] In 2010, the Penang state government launched plans to renovate the upper sections of the skyscraper.^[139] The revitalisation effort, known as The Top, was launched in December 2012, costing RM180 million.^[140] As part of the effort, three new floors were constructed, increasing the skyscraper's height to 248.9 m (817 ft).^[141] A 16 metres (52 ft) skywalk, three bubble lifts, and a 90-metre-long (300 ft) rope course was added in subsequent renovations in 2018.^[142][143]

After is completion in late-1985, Komtar stood at 231.7 metres (760 ft) tall, and became the second-tallest skyscraper in Asia, behind Sunshine 60.^[144] It was also the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia until 10 November 1986, and in Malaysia until 10 June 1988, when it was surpassed by One Raffles Place and Maybank Tower respectively.^[145][146] With 65 floors, it had the highest floor count of any building in Asia until the completion of the Bank of China Tower in January 1990.^[147] Upon its opening, it was advertised as the premier commercial district of George Town.^[73] It was among the most popular places of congregation for teenagers in the city in the 1980s.^[148] Typically, 5,000 people work in the complex daily, including 1,800 workers from state departments.^[149] It was projected that 600,000 to a million visitors visit the skyscraper's observation deck annually.^[150]

Offices edit

Komtar Tower, which topped out on 1 January 1985, is 248.9 metres (817 ft) tall with 68 storeys.^[144] Currently, the skyscraper houses the offices of the Penang state government (level 3, 7–58, and 61–64), the chief minister of Penang (level 28) and the mayor of George Town (level 17).^[151][152] Other office tenants include the Penang Island City Council, Public Services Commission, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board, Tenaga Nasional, Maybank, Pos Malaysia, and the National Higher Education Fund Corporation.^[153][154]

In July 1980, the federal government bought 91,000 square feet (8,500 m²) of office space at Komtar.^[155] Between December 1982 and January 1984, the Penang state government spent RM45.04 million buying 210,600 square feet (19,570 m²) of office space at Komtar, occupying 17 storeys of the skyscraper.^[156] In 1983, the Penang Municipal Council was reportedly forced to move to Komtar by the state government even though its offices at City Hall were sufficient, leading to opposition within the council. This decision, costing RM20 million, would relocate the council's offices to 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) of office space between the 12th and 17th floors.^[157] In 1984, chief minister Lim Chong Eu moved his offices into the 28th floor of the skyscraper.^[158] By February 1985, occupancy reached the 33rd floor.^[57] In 1986, the offices of the Penang state government, which had been located in Downing Street since 1961, moved to Komtar permanently.^[159] It was estimated in 1990 that RM162.7 million worth of office space in Komtar had been sold.^[76]

In July 1992, an indoor golf club, reputedly the first in Malaysia, opened at the 56th floor.^[160] In 2008, Telekom Malaysia moved into the 58th floor as a call centre.^[161] Similarly, before 2015 the 64th floor had been rented by telecommunication companies to install their equipment.^[139] In 2020, nine federal agencies moved into Komtar under the Urban Transformation Centre at the second and third floors, occupying 42,000 square feet (3,900 m²) of office space.^[154][162]

Observatory deck edit

The first publicly accessible observatory decks at Komtar were between the 57th to 60th floors of the skyscraper. On 15 November 1989, the main observatory deck, the Tower Tourist Centre, was inaugurated at the 58th floor.^[163] A duty-free shop, the Metropolitan Duty-Free Shop, opened at the 57th floor in mid-February 1990. The 59th and 60th floors housed a Chinese restaurant known as the Tower Palace. Other attractions include a video room and an amphitheatre for cultural shows.^[164] The actual top floor, the 65th floor, was used as a helipad.^[165]

Between 2014 and 2016, the top floors of the skyscraper were rebuilt in an extension program known as The Top, which includes the addition of three upper stories and a complete overhaul of all publicly accessible portions of the complex.^[159] A new observatory deck known as Window of the Top was constructed at the 65th floor while an open-air deck was built at the 68th floor. Window of the Top, which stood at a height of 239 metres (784 ft), was only accessible through an express lift on the 5th floor.^[139] Visitors could view up to 150 kilometres (93 mi) away from the deck, which includes parts of Seberang Perai and Kedah across the Penang Strait.^[166] Other attractions on Window of the Top include a souvenir store and an outdoor rope course.^[167] The 68th floor, standing at a height of 246.3 metres (808 ft), featured a restaurant called Top View and a semi-circle skywalk which extends beyond the main building.^[168][169]

Podium edit

The podium at Komtar, which encompasses the 1st to 4th floor, contains a shopping complex that opened in 1976. Komtar had enjoyed the status of northern Malaysia's only shopping complex, creating a retail monopoly with high rental returns, comparable to the Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur in the late-1970s. This situation, which persisted throughout the 1980s, was described as a "shopping centre vacuum".^[170]

The Dalit Cinema, operated by BFO, opened on 8 August 1981 as Komtar's first anchor tenant.^[171] Super Komtar opened on 6 December 1986 as the first department store in the complex.^[172][173] At the end of the 1980s, it became one of the most profitable and popular department stores in the country.^[174][175] Japanese retail group Yaohan opened at Komtar in November 1988, becoming its first major foreign tenant. It had a staff of 350 and occupied an area of 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²).^[176] The first Pizza Hut and White Castle outside of Kuala Lumpur opened at Komtar in January 1989 and on 14 June 1989 respectively.^{[177][178][179]} Singaporean bookstore chain Popular opened at the complex on 7 August 1991, which operated until 28 November 2021.^[180][181] In 1992, both Yaohan and Metrojaya mooted the idea of building separate department complexes under phase 2E and phase three of the complex, but were never built.^[80][83]

On 30 December 1997, Yaohan rebranded itself as Aktif Lifestyle after its Japanese parent company went bankrupt.^[182][183] Aktif Lifestyle would face financial difficulties and in 2004 the store was bought out by Parkson, becoming Parkson Aktif.^{[184][185][186]} The department store closed in 2005.^[187] It was replaced by the ICT Digital Mall, which opened on 1 September 2010 as a "tech plaza".^[188][189] Super Komtar would cease operations on 9 March 2005, remaining abandoned for two years before re-opening as Pacific on 17 December 2008.^{[131][190][191]} In 2009, a large section of the podium was renovated into a pedestrian mall known as Komtar Walk, but failed to attract visitors and was abandoned in 2019 due to legal disputes between its operator and state authorities.^[135] The mall was demolished and rebuilt in January 2023.^[192]

Transportation edit

Komtar is served by the Komtar Bus Terminal, which functions as the main interchange station for Rapid Penang, the sole public transport operator in George Town. The terminal is jointly owned by the Penang state government, the Penang Island City Council, and Rapid Penang.^[193]

Previously, the main interchange station at the city was the Prangin Road Bus Station, which had been the bus terminal for private bus companies, such as the Hin Company (Tanjung Bungah–Batu Ferringhi), the Lim Seng Seng Company (Ayer Itam), and the Yellow Bus Company (Jelutong–Bayan Lepas). However, the bus terminal shut down in 1990 for the construction of Prangin Mall.^[75] Throughout the late-1980s and 1990s, the Komtar Bus Terminal was consistently criticised for poor cleanliness and maintenance, with a reputation of being a hot spot for mugging and robberies. These criticisms were part of a wider negative sentiment against the state of public transport in Penang at the time.^[194][195]

The introduction of state operator Rapid Penang in July 2007 gradually superseded the private bus companies, eventually occupying the entire terminal.^[196] For decades, the bus terminal had been a place of congregation for vagabonds and the homeless, but since September 2023 they have been relocated to nearby state-funded homeless shelters under the directives of the Penang state government.^[197][198] Currently, the terminal serves the 11, 12, 13, 101, 102, 103, 104, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 401, 401E, 502, CAT, CT13 and CT14 bus routes of Rapid Penang.^{[199][200][201]}

Since the early 2000s, Komtar has been proposed to contain a terminal station of potential light rail transit and monorail lines, such as the Mutiara line, the Tanjong Tokong line, and the Ayer Itam line.^[202] It is proposed that construction of the station would start in September or October 2024, with an expected completion date of 2030.^[114] Komtar is also the terminal station for the proposed George Town tram line.^[203]

Other buildings edit

Besides the main complex, three other structures stood at the site. The oldest was a 470-suite, 17-storey hotel block that opened as the Shangri-La Hotel on 2 April 1986.^[73][74] It was rebranded as the Traders Hotel on 1 April 2006, and as Hotel Jen in late 2014.^[204][205] An auditorium in the shape of a geodesic dome, known as the Tunku Hall, was built at the roof of the podium in July 1986.^[38] Inspired by The Tech in San Jose, the auditorium was repurposed as a science museum in 2016.^[206] Two further shopping malls were constructed east of the complex; Prangin Mall (phase 4) opened in 2001, while 1st Avenue (phase 3) opened in 2010.^[102][103]

Logo and branding edit

The original design of Komtar's logo was a minimalistic outline of the complex resembling the letters "TAR" – an abbreviation of the complex's name. In 2015, a new logo was introduced featuring the words "Komtar" in red to symbolise ong, the Hokkien word for auspicious, with the letter "T" as a hand-drawn image of the tower.^[207][208]

On the city centre and future developments edit

The construction of Komtar resulted in the destruction of a huge section of the heritage quarters along Penang Road and the Prangin Canal, which had been an important enclave of the Chinese riverine settlement in George Town.^[209] Over three hundred historic landmarks were demolished in the process, including the former Jinricksha Office, the former campus of Li Tek Primary School, and the Capitol and Oriental Emporium.^{[210][211][212]} Gladstone Road, which ran from the Magazine Circus to the west and Carnavon Street to the east, was built over and disappeared under the complex, leaving a remnant at its eastern end that was removed in 2000.^[213][214]

With the rise of the service industry in Penang after its industrialisation in the 1980s, Komtar's status as a large centralised financial district decimated smaller, traditional businesses in the city centre.^[215] The irreversible changes towards the city centre following Komtar's completion were cited as one of the main factors leading to a rise of heritage preservation movements in Penang.^[10] In 1986, the Penang Heritage Trust was founded, and in 1989 the first heritage conservation enactments were passed in the state legislature.^[216] These efforts culminated in the establishment of a conservation zone, involving a 269 acres (109 ha) "heritage core zone" and a 390 acres (160 ha) "buffer zone" inscribed by UNESCO in 2008, which banned any alterations to all historic structures in George Town's urban core.^[217]

Komtar was a centrepiece under the ideal Wawasan 2020, which encouraged urban construction and renewal throughout Malaysian cities, leading to a development boom. Private development applications in Penang peaked in the mid-1990s, which made the heritage quarters susceptible to demolition like those of Komtar, a trend that was only halted after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.^[218] Despite this, following the complex's completion in 1985, the Penang state government would never again undertake any urban redevelopment programmes within the heritage quarters, instead opting for land reclamation. This strategy, first employed in the expansion of the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in the late 1970s, allowed state authorities to skip negotiations and avoid overly complicated resettlement agreements, thereby reducing acquisition costs.^[219] From 1980 to 2000, almost all of George Town's east coast was reclaimed, and by 2015 total reclaimed land in the city was estimated to be 9.5 square kilometres (3.7 sq mi) in area.^[220]

Architectural and cultural importance edit

Komtar is regarded as an icon of Penang, and is seen as the state's most famous landmark.^{[221][222][5]} It is also an important hub for Penang's public bus system, and is the administrative centre of George Town and Penang.^[223][224] It is described as a "city within a city", and was hailed as one of the last "great national symbols of the 1970s".^[13] Architecture-wise, Komtar was Penang's first modernist structure and served as an important example of modernist architecture in Southeast Asia. The complex was reflective of Malaysia's post-independence period in the 1960s with the construction of modernist landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament (1959–1962), the National Mosque (1963–1965), and the National Stadium (1960–1962) which intended to replace traditional architectural styles with bold and modern designs.^[12] The geodesic dome was noted as Buckminster Fuller's last significant architectural contribution in Southeast Asia.^[5]

Komtar's layout and design were radical and utopian for its time.^[225] However, while modernist structures in Malaysia were built to expel and erase the country's colonial past, Komtar was built as a unique expression of critical regionalism, where its modernist elements were incorporated in a way to resonate with George Town's entrenched colonial history.^[225] Despite this, Komtar lacked enough local appreciation for its regionalist characteristics, and was rejected by the populace for being too radical and impractical.^[226] Komtar's failure to revitalise George Town has become a notable case study for failed architectural experiments.^[12][227]

• Penang Bridge
• Kuala Lumpur City Centre
• World Trade Center (1973–2001)
• Architecture of Penang

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