Formerly The Mercantile Bank Building - A handsome Art Deco building on Station Road in Ipoh

Formerly The Mercantile Bank Building

Standing prominently at 15–19 Jalan Dato' Maharajalela (formerly Station Road), this Art Deco landmark serves as a silent witness to Ipoh’s golden age as a global tin-mining titan. On August 29, 1931, the building opened with great fanfare to house the Mercantile Bank. The ceremony, presided over by the British Resident of Perak, Bertie Elles, was a "who’s who" of the colony’s elite, marking a new chapter in Ipoh's urban sophistication.

The structure was a crown jewel in the estate of Shaik Adam, a visionary pioneer who catalyzed Ipoh’s modernization. His firm was the first to provide the town with the "modern luxuries" of ice and soda water, though his lasting legacy was also spiritual, as the benefactor behind one of the community's central mosques.

The Tamil Muslim Mosque aka Town Padang Mosque in Ipoh contributed by Shaik Adam

Architecturally, the building represented a fascinating bridge between international styles and local talent. Designed by the Singapore-based firm Messrs. Keyes and Dowdeswell, the project included a young Danish architect named Berthel Michael Iversen. Iversen would later make Ipoh his home, shaping the skylines of Perak and Kuala Lumpur with his iconic cinemas and residences. Constructed by the pioneering engineering firm Brossard and Mopin, the building was hailed by contemporaries as "Modern Continental"—a precursor to what we now recognize as the Art Deco movement.

The building’s design radiates "quiet dignity," defined by twin vertical towers that flank the frontage and sweeping horizontal balconies along Shaik Adam Street. This airy, well-ventilated exterior gave an immediate impression of stability and permanence—essential for a financial institution.

The former Mercantile Bank building whose secondary entrance faces Jalan Shaik Adam

The move to this site in 1931 was a strategic one. The Mercantile Bank had first established itself in Ipoh in 1928 just a few doors down. By moving into this grand new edifice, they cemented their place in Ipoh’s "Financial Heart" alongside the Chartered Bank and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. The building quickly became a prestigious hub; while the bank anchored the ground floor, the upper levels housed the prestigious law firm Maxwell & Kenion and the very architects who designed it, Keyes and Dowdeswell, who moved their practice here from Belfield Street.

The former Mercantile Bank building

References

Mercantile bank in Ipoh. (1931, September 2). The Straits Echo (Mail Edition).

Ipoh's great future.  (1931, September 8). Malaya Tribune.

Ipoh World. (n.d.). The Mercantile Bank Building, Ipoh. Retrieved from https://db.ipohworld.org/view/id/586

Ipoh World. (n.d.). Berthel Michael Iversen, Architect. Retrieved from https://db.ipohworld.org/view/id/3897