Birch House

Birch House is a heritage building along Dato Kramat Road in George Town, Penang. It was built to serve as the office of the tin smelting plant of Escoy Smelting, known in the late 20th century as Eastern Smelting. The 5.3 hectare site of the tin smelting plant is now developed as Penang Times Square, and Birch House is being retained as the headquarters of the developer, Ivory Properties Group following a RM2.5 million restoration work.

Birch House was built around 1908. It was named after E.W. Birch, the popular British Resident of Perak between 1905-1909, who was a moving force in the development of the tin smelting works in Penang. The plant itself was founded by Lee Chin Ho, who started it in 1897. Tin mined in North Malaya all the way to southern Thailand were transported to Penang for smelting. The roads around the smelting plant were named after tin mining areas from where the ore originated. Hence roads within the vicinity were given names such as Tongkah Road and Trang Road.

Photos of Birch House

Birch House (9 Dec 2008)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms. Tim is a Christian. Click here to know more about his beliefs.