Boustead Building, Weld Quay

Boustead Building (25 June 2006)


The Boustead Building (GPS: 5.41699, 100.34405) at No. 1, Weld Quay is a historic building in George Town, Penang. It housed the Penang branch of Boustead & Co, a British trading firm founded in Singapore by English businessman Edward Boustead in 1828. It opened its branch in Penang in 1864. The company changed its name to Boustead Holdings in 1966, and became a wholly Malaysian-owned entity in 1976. Today Boustead Holdings is a huge conglomerate with over a hundred subsidiaries that include three listed companies and sixteen associate companies.

The Boustead Building was erected at a time when Penang experienced an economic boom from its position as a harbour. It lined the newly laid Weld Quay along with other European trading houses, many of which owned by Germans. Its immediate neighbour at 2 Weld Quay was the German trading firm of Schmidt, Küstermann & Co.

The Boustead Building should not be confused with Menara Boustead along Northam Road. It used to house the offices of Boustead Shipping Agencies as well as Boustead Johan Ederan until very recently, when the building underwent restoration (in progress at time of writing, Jan 2013). The building opened to house a hotel, the Royale Bintang Penang, which changed its name in 2017 to Royale Chulan Penang.

Boustead Building under restoration (14 November 2012)


Boustead Building (25 June 2006)


Boustead Building (29 January 2005)

The Boustead building is on the map of Weld Quay

References

List of Historic Buildings in Penang and Historic Buildings in Malaysia