Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Rumah Tangsi is a restored early 1900s mansion on Jalan Tangsi in Kuala Lumpur, built between 1903 and 1907 as the residence of Straits Chinese businessman Loke Chow Kit, founder of the city's first department store, Chow Kit and Co. Known originally as Loke Hall, the two storey mansion combined Palladian and Straits Eclectic detailing and stood on what was then Barrack Road, from which its later name derives, since tangsi means barracks in Malay. After Loke relocated to Penang around 1908, the building was leased out and became the Empire Hotel from 1909, then reopened after renovation as the Peninsular Hotel, which traded until 1973 when the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) made it their headquarters. Gazetted a National Heritage Building in 2012, it underwent a five year conservation project completed in December 2017 and reopened as a cultural venue under Kuala Lumpur City Hall in September 2018. In January 2025, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosted diplomatic dinners there for the Singaporean prime minister and the Indonesian president.
Loke Hall
1903 to 1909
Empire Hotel
1909 to 1919
Peninsular Hotel (also spelt Peninsula Hotel)
1919 to 1973
PAM Centre (headquarters of Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia)
1973 to 2012
Rumah Tangsi
2012 to present
1903 to 1907
Loke Chow Kit, a Straits Chinese merchant and municipal councillor whose firm Chow Kit and Co ran Kuala Lumpur's first department store, commissions a two storey mansion at what was then 10 Jalan Tangsi, then called Barrack Road. The building is named Loke Hall and built in a Palladian influenced Straits Eclectic style, with a central courtyard laid in encaustic floor tiles.
1908
Loke Chow Kit relocates his base of operations to Penang, and Loke Hall ceases to be used as a private residence.
1909
The Empire Hotel Company Ltd leases the mansion and converts it into the Empire Hotel, trading on the strength of its location opposite the Selangor Club and near the old railway station.
1919
After renovation, the hotel reopens under the name Peninsular Hotel.
1973
The Peninsular Hotel closes after a long decline in trade, and Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM), the Malaysian Institute of Architects, takes over the building as its national headquarters.
1981
The Loke family estate sells the property to a development company, which serves PAM with an eviction notice; public concern over the threatened demolition leads Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to step in and acquire the building, with PAM staying on as tenant.
2012
DBKL gazettes the building as a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005, ending PAM's four decade tenancy and renaming the property Rumah Tangsi.
2012 to 2017
DBKL carries out a five year conservation project, stripping out incompatible modern materials and restoring original timber floorboards, roof tiles and the courtyard's 1903 encaustic tiles. Works conclude in December 2017.
September 2018
Rumah Tangsi is officially relaunched as a heritage cultural and event venue under DBKL, later placed under day to day management by Seetizens Lab.
2020
Rumah Tangsi serves as the secretariat venue for Kuala Lumpur's tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital.
January 2025
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosts diplomatic dinners at Rumah Tangsi for visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, cementing the venue's current role as a setting for high level state hospitality.
Yellow and white colonial facade
The mansion's signature bright yellow walls with white trim date from its conservation era branding as Rumah Tangsi and have become the building's most recognisable feature in local media, though the original Edwardian era paintwork would not have used this exact scheme.
Central courtyard with encaustic tiles
The courtyard at the heart of the mansion retains its original 1903 encaustic floor tiles, laid out according to feng shui principles for the Loke household, and these survived the 2012 to 2017 conservation works largely intact.
Straits Eclectic and Palladian detailing
The two storey facade mixes Palladian proportions and neo-classical columns with Straits Eclectic detailing typical of wealthy Straits Chinese residences of the period, reflecting Loke Chow Kit's exposure to European architecture on an earlier trip abroad.
Name derived from Barrack Road
Jalan Tangsi was known as Barrack Road under British administration because police barracks and an armoury stood along it; tangsi is Malay for barracks, and the mansion took this street name when it was renamed Rumah Tangsi in 2012.
Restored timber floors and roof tiles
As part of the 2012 to 2017 conservation project, DBKL removed later modern additions and reinstated timber floorboards and clay roof tiles matched to the building's Edwardian era construction.
Rumah Tangsi was built between 1903 and 1907 for Loke Chow Kit, a Straits Chinese merchant and Kuala Lumpur municipal councillor who founded the Chow Kit and Co department store. It was originally named Loke Hall.
The design is commonly credited to architect A.K. Moosdeen, who worked on several early Kuala Lumpur landmarks, though some heritage researchers note the attribution has not been definitively confirmed by original records.
The building sits on Jalan Tangsi, formerly Barrack Road, where colonial police barracks and an armoury once stood. Tangsi is the Malay word for barracks, and the name was formally adopted when Kuala Lumpur City Hall designated the building a heritage site in 2012.
Yes. After Loke Chow Kit relocated to Penang around 1908, the mansion was leased and reopened in 1909 as the Empire Hotel, then renamed the Peninsular Hotel in 1919. It traded as a hotel until 1973.
From 1973 until 2012, the building served as the national headquarters of Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM), the Malaysian Institute of Architects, before Kuala Lumpur City Hall gazetted it as a heritage site and took over the property.
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur gazetted it as a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005 in 2012, then carried out a five year restoration completed in December 2017 before reopening it as a cultural venue in September 2018.
In January 2025, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosted diplomatic dinners at Rumah Tangsi for Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, underscoring its current use for high level state hospitality.
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