Penang HSBC Building

HSBC Building, Downing Street façade (29 January 2005)


The HSBC Building of Penang (GPS: 5.41819, 100.3434) is an elegant six-storey building built in 1948 in the late Art Deco style at 1 Downing Street, George Town. The design reflects the influence of the Shanghai Art Deco style. The first two floors are rusticated while the four upper floors carry a different façade treatment.

HSBC Building, Beach Street façade (4 June 2006)


This is the first branch of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank in Malaya. It was established in 1884. It's first permanent building was built in 1906. It had a Neo-Classical style, with a domed tower at the corner of Beach Street and Downing Street, very much similar to the ABN-Amro Bank Building next door. However, this building was destroyed during the Second World War and was replaced by the present structure, which happened to be one of the first buildings to be completed after the war.

HSBC Building, morning shot (25 April 2007)

Nearby Sights

HSBC Building is on the Map of Lebuh Pantai, George Town, Penang

List of Historic Buildings in Penang and Historic Buildings in Malaysia

Private Guided Tours of Penang

If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.