Peninsula House by Wunderwall Design
Positioned at the heart of George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site, Peninsula House occupies a prominent Art Deco structure built in 1937.
Once home to financial institutions and government offices, the building's layered past is embedded in the historical and architectural fabric of Penang. Wunderwall Design approaches its transformation with care and clarity, restoring the site as a contemporary dining destination while preserving its architectural presence.
The intervention does not seek to erase the passage of time. Rather, it embraces the aged character of the original structure, maintaining its external walls, metal-framed windows, and geometrical form, while calibrating a new spatial order that aligns with the building's scale and volume. The two-storey interior, once an expansive shell, is reimagined through deliberate shifts in elevation. A series of stepped platforms now delineate dining zones, offering varied vantage points while addressing the client's brief for an open and unobstructed plan.
Materiality plays a central role in shaping the experience of Peninsula House. A restrained palette of bone-white lime paint, whitewashed timber, patinated wood, and stone establishes visual coherence, while vintage furnishings and handcrafted elements introduce tactility and lived-in warmth. The atmosphere is intentionally quiet, eschewing bold statements in favour of subtle detailing and a commitment to honest craftsmanship.
Custom lighting and furniture by local artisans highlight the studio's interest in material experimentation. Stainless steel, often reserved for utilitarian purposes, is refined through new techniques and applied to sculptural light fittings and tableware. A reclaimed jewellery desk is repurposed as the bar, bridging past and present with quiet ingenuity. At the entrance, a monumental timber portal crafted from solid Kaya timber acts as both threshold and anchor, asserting a sense of arrival without disrupting the building's understated character.
The dining experience echoes this sensibility. Without theatrics or excess, the environment invites guests to linger, fostering connection through atmosphere rather than display. The interplay of soft lighting, varied levels, and natural finishes creates a grounded, meditative quality, a calm retreat within the city's historic core.
Peninsula House is not a spectacle. It is a thoughtful, layered project that acknowledges the significance of its site while offering a contemporary interpretation rooted in restraint. Through subtle recalibration and material sensitivity, Wunderwall Design repositions this once-empty landmark as a considered setting for slow dining and quiet conversation, an architecture of presence, not performance.
