Bangunan Sulaiman - A lesser known Art Deco building of Kuala Lumpur

Sulaiman Building
Sulaiman Building - the main entrance

Bangunan Sulaiman (Sulaiman Building) was originally part of Federated Malay States (FMS) Railway Service complex when it was first completed. That is the reason it is located near the Old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station (completed in 1911) and the Malayan Railway Headquarters Building (formerly the FMS Railway Administrative Central Office) which was completed in 1917.  

However, unlike its two older counterparts which were designed in Indo-Saracenic architecture by the FMS government architect Arthur Benison Hubback, Bangunan Sulaiman was designed in Art Deco style following the trend at that time as it was constructed during the Art Deco craze in 1930's.  According to Lim Wei-Ling, the Badan Warisan Malaysia's current president in an interview with Malaysian Tatler, the architect responsible for the design of Bangunan Sulaiman was the government architect, Leofric Kesteven, who also designed the one and only Art Deco mosque in Malaysia, the Sultan Sulaiman Royal Mosque in Klang and Convent Bukit Nanas School in Kuala Lumpur, among others.

Sulaiman Building
Sulaiman Building

IMG_1488
The front facade of the south wing of Bangunan Sulaiman

The massive 5-storey Art Deco building started to be built in 1926 and it was completed in 1930. The building spanned across 16,430 square meter and was opened in 1933.  It was first known as the New Railway Offices but later it was renamed after the fifth Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sir Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, who reigned from 1898 to 1938.

Later in the 1970s, Bangunan Sulaiman was handed over to the Registration Department and subsequently the Bangunan Sulaiman was used as the Syariah Court since 1990.

In 2011, the Malaysian government decided to designate the building to the then Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) while its renovation work started in 2012.  Despite restoration and refurbishment hurdles, it was a remarkable milestone which captured the growing importance of ADR and the KLRCA role in such growth.  In November 2012, renovation started on this building to change its function to accommodate the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (“KLRCA”). 

The official launch of the new AIAC’s (formerly KLRCA) facilities and new premises was held in 2014, and the building has been further modernised to provide state-of-the-art video conferencing, court recording and transcription (CRT) services.

In 2018 the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (“KLRCA”) has been rebranded and renamed the Asian International Arbitration Centre (Malaysia) (“AIAC”).

Bangunan Sulaiman was recognised as a National Heritage Site in Malaysia in 2018 under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act No. 645).

Sulaiman Building
Bangunan Sulaiman with its pylon at the end of the south wing.

IMG_0726
The north wing of the building is bathed in the early morning light

Comments