Case studies: Pejabat Pos Lama, Ipoh, Perak

Picture of Pejabat Pos Lama in the early 90s and before the conservation work

Background The Pejabat Pos Lama, Ipoh, was originally placed in the rearmost portion of Ipoh Town Hall, at Dato Sagor Road, in the middle of the government sector of the British administrative period. Other organizational buildings, testimonials and the commercial banks, give the area a European taste through the architectural styles employed. This building is located in front of the majestic Ipoh Railway Station and was constructed the same time as its neighbour the Ipoh High Court. The building was designed by a British architect call Arthur Benison Hubback. The Construction began in 1913 and was completed in 1916 (Jabatan Warisan Negara, 2013). The postal service in this building was operated 1083 before the building became the Perak Tourism Centre till 1995. Since then the building was unused for a very long time and without the maintenance the roof started to leak, the rain water downpipes starting to break, the floorboards started to rotted and the trees grew inside the building, plus the severe damage of the building. With that, in 2007, the Ipoh City Council applied to the Department of National Heritage for assistance. After cautiously study, the Department agreed to carry out conservation work and in 2009, work began and was completed in 2010 (Jabatan Warisan Negara, 2013).

Characteristic of the building This is a two-storey building is surrounded by an open arched verandah on the ground floor and an open colonnaded verandah on the first floor and these verandahs provide shade for the main building and shelter from both the heat and the tropical rain (Jabatan Warisan Negara, 2013). The marble floors add to the sense of freshness and the ground floor columns and walls are rusticated, and give a look of being built from large stone blocks. This is referring to a typical Renaissance feature and the wide protruding columns are form on the ground floor that form the base and for the Roman Doric columns is on first floor. These are both circular and square in plan, adding to the liveliness of the faade (Jabatan Warisan Negara, 2013). The timber floor in the existing heritage building has suffered damage caused by wear and tear and dry rot. Other damages continued also include termite attack, cut-out routes to enable installation of mechanical and electrical lines and exposure to the elements not to mention time and human use factors.

Comparison of the building in 2008 and 2010

Description

Before (2008)

After (2010)

1.) Before the building was being conserved. The floor finishers were cement render. When working on the floor, it is found that the original floor was found to have marble finishes. 2.) the worker is been instructed to dig up and explore the whole ground By knowing what is the original floor to unearth the original finishes

3.)

A few parts of the original floor were damaged provoking the contractor to search for similar material (marble) with the same colour and texture as replacement

4.)

This is the floor after grinding and polishing.

5.)

The timber was originally the second floor finishes. But When it was checked last 2008, the timber was badly rotten and deemed unsafe for habitation. The timber joist was found to be in a very good condition during the conservation work.

6.) The whole timber joist

remained unchanged even though the floorboards were replaced using the exact type of wood (meranti) used for the previous floor

8.)

The floor is ready to be coated with shellac

9.)

This is the floor condition upon accomplishment of conservation works.

Appendix

This is the front view of the Pejabat Pos Lama, Ipoh after a 90% completion of conservation work

This is the ground floor verandah

This is the open area

This is the view of the first floor area

This is the view of the first floor with the restored marble tiles, timber windows and staircases

This is the close up of the chamfered corner with the rusticated base and Roman Doric columns above

The damaged Meranti floors were replaced with matching timbers that was found

This is a flat roof so waterproofing work was required for it

The roof was repaired to the roof parapet , to the top of the walls

Reference list

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877705811029791/1-s2.0S1877705811029791-main.pdf?_tid=3f421efa-4edc-11e3-9f2a00000aacb35d&acdnat=1384619541_394a3c3e2cbc61a730fd7ee9e8c949cd (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.heritage.gov.my/index.php/en/conservation/conservation-building/publicbuildings/the-old-ipoh-post-office-building