From Balik Pulau to Jalan Parlimen: The Life and Architecture of Ivor Shipley in Malaya
Speaker: Dr. Ar. Lai Chee Kien
Moderator: Clement Liang, President of Penang Heritage Trust
Date: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Time: 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Venue: Conference Hall, Penang Institute
Organised by: Penang Institute
In collaboration with: Penang Heritage Trust and the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM)
Event Abstract
The architecture practice scene in Malaya before Merdeka was divided into the private and public sectors, much like today. The public sector was primarily staffed by architects and engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD), many of whom were trained abroad and appointed by the Colonial Service in London. Though based in Kuala Lumpur, the PWD assigned a State Architect to each state, responsible for designing, supervising, and maintaining government buildings.
Between 1945 and 1965, post-war reconstruction and modernist architectural adaptation flourished. During this time, William Ivor Shipley (1929–2008), trained at the Architectural Association in London, arrived in Malaya in 1953 after earlier visiting during his military service. Appointed State Architect of Penang and Province Wellesley, he designed several notable buildings, including the Penang Council Chamber, the Balik Pulau Police Station, and extensions to the old Bayan Lepas Airport.
Later transferred to PWD headquarters in KL, Shipley further developed his interest in modular design—shaped by his Penang experience and interactions with Bauhaus-affiliated figures Konrad Wachsmann and Julius Posener. His portfolio included the Standard Office Building (with over 200 units built nationwide) and culminated in the Parliament House, combining standardisation and tropical design principles. He was knighted in 1960 for his architectural contributions.
This talk explores Shipley’s contributions in Malaya from 1953 to 1964 before his return to London.
About the Speaker
Dr. Ar. Lai Chee Kien is a Singapore-based lecturer and registered architect whose research focuses on the histories of art, architecture, settlements, urbanism, and landscapes in Southeast Asia. He holds a Master of Architecture by Research from the National University of Singapore and a PhD in History of Architecture & Urban Design from the University of California, Berkeley.
He serves as Vice-President of the Society of Architectural and Urban Historians of Asia and sits on the Advisory Committee of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments. His published works include Building Merdeka: Independence Architecture in Kuala Lumpur (2007), Building Memories: People, Architecture, Independence (2016), The Merdeka Interviews (2018), and Cords to Histories: Architecture and Life in Southeast Asia (2021), the latter also released in Chinese and named one of Asia Magazine’s Best Ten Non-Fiction Books of 2021.
Event Summary
Singapore-based lecturer and registered architect Dr. Ar. Lai Chee Kien addressed architecture and history enthusiasts on 23 July 2025 at Penang Institute to share his research findings on the little-known role of English-born Ivor Shipley (1953–2008) in the construction of late-colonial/early-postcolonial buildings that have become landmarks on Malaysia’s landscape. The findings are the fruit of decades of research by Lai involving national and international archival research, as well as collaboration and interviews with Shiply, his family members and contemporaries, among many others.
Aside from the royal palace of the Yang Dipertuan Agong and Parlimen’s Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, Lai showed his audience how Shipley either had a hand in, or was responsible for, the design of hundreds of buildings and landmarks throughout the Peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak. These include the Stadium Merdeka, Dataran Merdeka, University of Malaya, Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka, Muzium Negara, Masjid Negara, and the Subang and Labuan airports.
Shipley had also designed hundreds of government buildings in the states, from schools and post offices, to police stations and the buildings that housed the government’s radio and television operations. In Penang, Shipley’s name can be found in the earliest planning and building documents of innumerable historical structures, from the George Town Secondary School and the Penang Girls’ School, an extension of the Bayan Lepas Airport, to the Penang Council Chamber and the Balik Pulau police district headquarters and police station. Contrary to perceptions that architects merely do the bidding of what their pay- or political masters can only vaguely imagine to be built, Lai shared anecdotes of Shiply standing his ground for his profession and in defence of his craft against the wishes of politicians.
For his architectural contributions, Shipley was knighted a Member of the British Empire in 1960, and Kesatria Mangku Negara in 1964.
Lai is a practicing architect and a lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He holds a Master of Architecture from NUS< and a PhD in History of Architecture and Urban Design from the University of California, Berkeley.