Analysis of Facade Typology of “Dutch” Shophouses in Melaka

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Analysis of Facade Typology of “Dutch” Shophouses in Melaka

Robert C.M. Weebers (1), Yahaya Ahmad (2) and Zuraini M.A. (3).

1. PhD Candidate, Faculty of Built Environment, University of

Malaya, Malaysia. ([email protected])

2. Associate Professor, Deputy Dean Research and Post Grad-

uate, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Malaysia

([email protected]) 3. Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Built Environment, University Malaya,

Malaysia. ([email protected])

Abstract

Shophouses in Melaka are not totally “Dutch” in design and decoration.

The 37 shophouses, which belong to this study, have Dutch, Chinese and

Portuguese architectural and decorative influences. Dutch characteristics are the

door and rectangular window in two halves. Others have a door in one piece with a

rectangular window and a window, small or large, in the façade of the first floor.

The width of the facade was introduced by the Dutch.

Chinese architectural characteristics of the shophouses are the simple and very

functional form. Some Chinese decorative elements of shophouses are: a fire wall

in the form of a “cat crawling” square ventilation holes and an indoor screen.

As of the eighteenth century Portuguese influences are also seen in the shophouses

in the gable endings.

It can also be argued that the design of the façade is not after any “Dutch” design

but that these kind of facades are commonly found in the Southeast Asia region.

Keywords: Southeast Asia, Dutch, heritage, shop houses

mailto:[email protected]

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1. Introduction

Melaka has some very characteristic buildings among these are shophouses these

buildings were designed by Dutch government officials, traders, or private persons.

The construction of the houses was most probably done by (Chinese) craftsmen

who introduced their own architectural elements. (Laurens Vis 1988:14)

According to Laurens Vis (1988:116) some houses in Melaka have been

highlighted to show the features of the Dutch architecture overseas. It appears that

the seventeenth-century houses have been established according to the Dutch

building traditions. Plastering of the walls, the ridge turning parallel to the street so

the façades are at the side of the house and the addition of galleries in that period

are the main addition in that period. As of the eighteenth century, the houses are

influenced by local features, with Melaka, as in the former Ceylon, a Portuguese

influence can be observed in the gable endings.

These “Dutch” shophouses can be divided in three types: A, B and C on the

following characteristics.

Type A: Door in two halves or in one part on the right hand-side in the façade of

the house. Window in two halves or in one part on the left hand-side of

the door. One window on the first floor.

Type B: Door in two halves or in one part on the left hand-side in the front of

the house. Window in two halves or in part on the right hand-side of the

door. One window on the first floor.

Type C: Door, in two halves, in the middle of the façade of the house. Two win-

dows on each side of the door and two windows on the first floor. Figure 1: Types of shophouses

Source: Robert C.M. Weebers

The location of the shophouses are in the following streets:

Dutch Shophouses

Street

Numbers Quantity

Jalan Bukit Cina

Not Even

75,95

2

3

Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock

(Heerenstraat)

Even

6,8,24,26,34,38,46,5

4,56,66,68,72,120.

Not even

7,61,163,183.

13

4

Jalan Hang Jebat

(Jonkerstraat)

Not even

29c

1

Jalan Hang Kasturi

(Tweede Brugwal Straat)

(Second Cross Street)

Even

2,6,10,16

4

Jalan Kubu

Even

8,12,16c.

3

Jalan Tengkera

Even

142

Not even

83, 177, 217, 219,

251, 255, 257, 259,

263

1

9

37 Figure 2: Table of the streets and numbers of the shophouses


4

Figure 3: The Core and Buffer zones in Melaka.

Source: Nomination Dossier for Registration of Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca: Melaka

and George Town, p.11.

2. Design

The characteristics of these “Dutch” shophouses in Melaka are that they are two

stories high. They have a narrow front due to the tax levied on the width of the

façade by the Dutch government of Melaka. This was a typical “Dutch” feature

because some houses in the Netherlands have narrow façades as well. This is

because of tax reasons too. The façade of these shophouses is between 3.64 and

6.09 meters wide and between 6.00 and 8.00 meters high. They have a covered

walkway in front of the house.

The distinctive features of the shophouses are: on the ground floor there is a

rectangular window and a door which are both either in two parts or in one part.

On the first floor there are either one, two, three windows or one large window.

All two stories

All narrow Front Between 3.64 - 6.09 meters width

JALAN TENGKERA

JALAN HANG JABAT

(JONKERSTRAAT)

JALAN TUN TAN

CHENG LOCK

(HEERENSTRAAT)

JALAN HANG

KASTURI

JALAN KUBU

JALAN BUKIT

C INA

5

Height Between 6.00 - 8.00 meters

All covered walkway or front

porch

Between 3.64 - 6.09 meters

Decorative elements Beams, hinges, wall anchors, hardwood framing,

louvered windows, tile roofing and terracotta

floor tiles.

Materials Bricks

Floor tiles (terracotta) roof tiles Figure 4: Characteristics of the shop houses


The majority of the 37 “Dutch” shophouses (25) have the door on the right and the

window on the left (Type A). 10 shop houses have the door on the left and the

window on the right (Type B) and only one type (Type C) (2) has the door in the

middle of the façade with on either side a window. The shophouse in Melaka has a

façade which is between 3.64 and 6.09 meters wide. The height is between 6.00

and 8.00 meters.

Figure 5: Shop house

on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng

Lock 56

Source: Robert C. M. Weebers

The door in two halves was also a feature in some houses in the Netherlands which

were used as shops. (Haan/Haagsma 1990:66) In the winter, the door would be

closed, with warmer weather it would be open and everyone could walk in or out

from the street, or from the house into the street. The effect was that the street

became an extension of the house. In the shophouses of type A1 and B2 the

rectangular window has two outward (downward and upward) turning wooden

shutters. The bottom part would be used to place merchandise on. In front of the

window a rattan screen was sometimes placed. This made it possible to look into

the street without being seen.

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According to Johannes Widodo “Ordinary Chinese in Melaka lived in small row

houses made of brick. The front of the house was a two storey building used

mainly as a shop, the front terrace was an indispensable part of each dwelling unit,

and was not open to its adjacent units. This early typology of dwelling could be

found everywhere within the old core of coastal settlements all over Southeast

Asia”. (Widodo 2004:100)

3. Typology

The types of shophouses are to be divided in types: A, B and C.

Main

Type

Sub

Types

Description, Streets and Graphics.

A

A1

A1 has in the façade on the ground floor a door on the right-

hand side and a rectangular window on the left-hand side.

Both in two halves. And one window on the first floor.

Jalan Hang Kasturi

10 16


56

7

A2 A2 has in the façade on the ground floor a door in two halves

on the right hand-side and on the left hand-side a rectangular

window and one window on the first floor.


61 120

A3 A3 has in the façade on the ground floor a door on the right-hand side and a rectangular window in two halves on the left-hand side and one window on the first floor.

Jalan Tengkera

83


46 72

A4 A4 has in the façade on the ground floor a door on the right-

hand side a rectangular window on the left-hand side and one

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window on the first floor.

Jalan Bukit Cina

95


7 24 26

Jalan Hang Kasturi

2 6

9

Jalan Kubu

8 16c

Jalan Tengkera

142 177 257 259


hand side a rectangular window on the left- hand side and two

windows on the first floor.

Jalan Bukit Cina Jalan Tengkera

217 75


hand side a rectangular window on the left-hand side and one

window with on each side two smaller ones on the first floor.

10


163

A7

A7 has in the façade on the ground floor a door on the right-

hand side a rectangular window on the left hand side and on

the first floor, which is made entirely out of wood, one

window.

Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock Jalan Tengkera

183 219

Total 25

B

B1 B1 has in the façade on the ground floor a door on the left-

hand side and a rectangular window on the right-hand side

both in two halves and one window on the first floor.

11


6 8 54


hand side and a rectangular window on the right-hand side and

one window on the first floor.

Jalan Tengkera

263


34 38 66 68


hand side and a rectangular window on the right-hand side and

a very big window on the first floor.

12

Jalan Kubu Jalan Hang Jebat

12 29c

Total 10

C

C1

C1 has in the façade on the ground floor a door in two halves

on the right-hand side and a window on each side of the door

and two windows on the first floor.

Jalan Tengkera

251 255

Total

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Grand Total 37 Figure 6: Shop houses in Melaka


4. Building Materials

The houses are built of yellow coloured bricks which could have been baked

locally.1 (Ancient Ceylon 1996:7/11) They are Dutch in design: rectangular in size,

quite light, not so high and not very thick. The walls are one brick deep. The walls

at the outside of the house are plastered. It is possible to date the houses by the

materials used: bricks used in the 17th

and 18th

centuries are placed with lime mortar

1 According to Encik Iesnordin. Curator of the Architecture Museum in Melaka.

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(lime mixed with sand) (Ancient Ceylon 1996:113/123). Bricks placed in the 20th

century would have cement.2

The sloping roofs are covered with tiles. These were, sometimes, taken as ballast

on the ships which came from the Netherlands or they were locally made. (Ancient

Ceylon 1996:7) Lastly there are the typically terracotta tiles in the walkway in

front of the house.

5. Decorative

a. Dutch Decorative Influences

Decorative elements of Dutch origin in the shophouses are the door and

rectangular window on the ground floor in two halves and the window on the first

floor. The frames of these windows are made of hardwood. In the window

foldable, downward and upward turning shutters, are placed were merchandise

could be exhibited for sale.3 On the first floor there are outward turnings, shutters

in the windows which are made of timber.

Figure 7: A house in the Netherlands with a window with shutters on the ground floor. Source:

Painting: De zeven werken van barmartigheid, Meester van Alkmaar, First half of the 16th

century. Source: Architectuur van Erasmus, 1990. p.66.

Other decorative elements are the iron hinges on the doors and windows. These

hinges are Dutch in design and allow the windows to open inward or outward.

Over the door or windows, in the outside wall, small rectangular of semi-circular

2 According to Encik Iesnordin.. Curator of the Architecture Museum in Melaka.

According to the British Lime Association: Lime mortars have high water retention, creating

an improved bond as there is more contact between unit and mortar. Retention of water in

mortar improves carbonation in pure lime mortars and results in best conditions for early

hydration of cement lime mortars thus reducing cracking and water penetration into hardened

mortar joints.

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vents are placed (Measured drawings, Northwest, 2001:290). Sometimes these

houses have iron wall anchors in the outside walls of the houses mostly on the

level of the first floor. These were put there to secure the beams which were in the

walls on the inside of the house. The doors and windows have heavy hardwood

framing.

Big hinges (Figure 8a and 8b), wall anchors (Figure 8c and 8d) heavy hardwood framing

(Figure 8e), louvered windows (Figure 8f), tile roofing (Figure 8g) and the terracotta

tiles (Figure 8h).

Figure 8a

Big

Hinges

Figure 8b

Big Hinges

Figure 8c

Wall

anchors

Figure 8d

Wall

anchors

Figure 8e

Heavy

Hardwood

Framing

Figure 8f

Louvered

Windows

Figure 8g

Tile

Roofing

Figure 8h

Terracotta

floor Tiles

Figure 8: Dutch decorative elements


Ornamentation was minimal most occurring in the form of cornices. The reason

could be that the owners or construction workers could not afford elaborate

ornamentation (Measured drawings. Northwest. 2001:30). The walls were

plastered white.

b. Chinese Architectural and Decorative Influences

Chinese architectural characteristics of the shophouses are the simple and very

functional form. Gable roofs are by far the most commonly found type in

Malaysia, although examples of hipped and half-hipped examples are also to be

found. (Kohl 1986:2)

The Chinese decorative elements of the shop houses were the Chinese-style front

pitched façade roofs which gave way to the gable façade. In front of the shop

houses a covered passageway of ca. five feet was constructed during the British

period, which was subsequently named “the five foot way”. The inhabitants of the

houses had the upper floors extended over the walkway or by blocking the entire

walkway to create more private space. (Building Analysis on Jonkerstraat 2001:51)

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Other Chinese decorative elements of shophouses are: a fire wall in the form of a

“cat crawling”4, (Knapp 1986:41) square ventilation holes and an indoor screen.

(Raja Nafida 2008:308)

For these types of houses the materials used are: timber, mortar and terracotta.

(Measured drawing Southwest Facade 2001:115)

Figure 9a: Side-gable Figure 9b: Air vents

With “cat crawling” on Jalan Hang Jebat

on Jalan Hang Jebat Source: Robert C.M. Weebers.


6. Significance and Authenticity

The shop houses in Melaka meet the requirement of authenticity as was decided at

the first session of the World Heritage Committee in 1977. Paragraph 9: “In

addition, the property should meet the test of authenticity in design, materials,

workmanship and setting; authenticity does not limit consideration to original

form and structure but includes all subsequent modifications and additions, over

the course of time, which in themselves possess artistic or historical values.”

(ICOMOS 2008:43)

The requirements for significance according to Icomos (ICOMOS 2008:27) are

that a property should “be an outstanding example of a type of building or

architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a)

significant stage(s) in human history”. These shophouses were built during periods

where the Dutch and the English ruled over Melaka. Apparently Dutch influences

were still noticeable during English times.

Authentic and significant about the shophouses in Melaka are that these are two

stories high with decorative elements like doors and windows in two halves.

Materials used are the Dutch bricks: rectangular in size, quite light, not so high and

4 A cat crawling is a circular, rounded style roof

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not very thick. The plaster on the walls the hardwood framing of the windows, wall

anchors and hinges of doors and windows. The setting is in the historic city of

Melaka.

7. Conclusion

The findings of this paper are that the 37 shophouses in the “Dutch” style in

Melaka which are not totally “Dutch” in design and decoration.

Some have Dutch characteristics like the door and rectangular window in two

halves. Others have the door in one piece with a rectangular window and a

window, small or large, in the façade of the first floor. The width of the façade was

introduced by the Dutch.

Decorative elements of Dutch origin are beams, hinges, wall anchors, hardwood

framing, louvered windows, tile roofing and terracotta floor tiles.

Other Dutch influences are the plastering of the walls, the turning of the ridge

parallel to the street so the façades are at the side of the house and the addition of

galleries.

Chinese architectural characteristics of the shop houses are the simple and very

functional form. Chinese decorative elements are a fire wall (side gable) in the

form of a “cat crawling”, square ventilation holes and an indoor screen.

It can also be argued that the design of the façade is not after any “Dutch” design

but that these kinds of facades are commonly found in the Southeast Asia region.

As of the eighteenth century Portuguese influences are also seen in the shop-

houses in the gable endings.

According to Incomes (ICOMOS 2008:27 a property should “be an outstanding

example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or

landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history”. That is

certainly the case with these 37 “Dutch” shophouses in Melaka.

References

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Documents

Analysis of Facade Typology of “Dutch” Shophouses in Melaka