George Town Shophouses and Townhouses

Pre-war shophouses on Toh Aka Lane (11 February 2013)


The term shophouse is often applied liberally to any 2- and 3-storey traditional terrace house in George Town. In fact, they can be separated into two groups, the shophouses and the townhouses. The difference between the two is of course the intention they were built.

Much has been written about traditional shophouses in George Town. Strictly speaking, the term applies to properties where the ground floor is given to some form of commerce, while the upper floor is used as residence. These shophouses will have an open front so patrons and customers have direct access from the five foot way.

Restored shophouse (30 June 2014)


On the other hand, townhouse is one that was built to be completely residential. These are usually quite lengthy. This is because (from what I understand) they were assessed based on the width of their street frontage. So, the wider the house, the more in quit rent they have to pay.

The height of shop/townhouses offers a good indication to its age. Generally speaking, the older the shophouse, the lower it tends to be. Those built in the first half of the 19th century - if they are still standing - are often simple structures that are quite short.

Side wall of a George Town shophouse (11 February 2013)


Even the windows look simple. They are usually wooden windows with adjustable louvres, and they span the whole width of the upper floor frontage of the house. Below the windows are the spandrels. The majority is plain stucco, though a few include decorative green glazed vents that offer some ventilation.

In the above photo we see a recently restored shophouse. In terms of height, it appears quite short compared to most of the shophouses in the city. We can therefore make a guess that it was built in the 19th century, though exactly when, it is hard to say.

References

Architectural Styles of Buildings in George Town