If there’s one thing that epitomizes Penang’s historic center, George Town, it’s the traditional shophouse. Street after street in George Town is lined with these multipurpose rowhouses—dating from the 18th to the 20th century—in myriad styles, colors, and states of repair. A typical shophouse was intended to play many roles: the front of the ground floor was a shop or restaurant; the back of the ground floor provided space for workshops, storage, kitchens, and toilets; and the upper floor(s) served as living space. Today, many shophouses still function that way, though some are used entirely as residences, stores, or hotels.
These connected rowhouses are two or three stories tall, narrow in width but very deep. To provide light and ventilation, most have at least one inner courtyard with an airwell open to the sky, as well as long vertical windows with shutters. Each shophouse is usually fronted by a covered sidewalk, with an arched opening leading to the sidewalks of the houses on either side. Together, the covered sidewalks form a “5-foot way” that provides shade and shelter for inhabitants and passersby—although now the 5-foot ways are often so full of motorcycles, potted plants, restaurant tables, or random goods that they no longer form a continuous passage along the street. As a pedestrian in Penang, you’re forever darting in and out of the 5-foot way as you navigate around obstacles.
Penang’s shophouse architecture was strongly influenced by Chinese styles (including feng shui elements) as well as by European designs. As architectural styles shifted—and Penang grew wealthier—during the 19th and early 20th centuries, shophouse styles became increasingly elaborate and ostentatious. Unfortunately, some of them were destroyed during World War II or subsequent conflicts and were rebuilt in more modern concrete styles.
We’ve seen shophouses in other Southeast Asian towns that had neighborhoods settled by Chinese traders, including Phuket, Thailand; Hoi An, Vietnam; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Singapore. But none of those places can rival George Town for the sheer number and exuberant variety of shophouses. They’re one of the main architectural reasons that the oldest parts of George Town have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
