在時間留下的空殼中，傾聽建築的記憶 — Wunderwall Design 將近百年圖書館轉化為當代餐飲場域：「Peninsula House」
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In the historic center of George Town, Penang, a nearly century-old building stands at a quiet street corner. Completed in 1937, India House is one of the few remaining examples of Art Deco architecture in the city. Its symmetrical façade, defined by vertical lines, gives it a sense of height and formality. Geometric windows, subtle reliefs, and softened corners evoke the design language of a bygone era.
Once home to a public library run by the United States Information Service (USIS), the building served as a rare cultural venue during the colonial period. Over time, as the city evolved, its function faded. For more than thirty years, the building sat dormant, holding the slow traces of time and memory.
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Drawn by the building’s presence and lingering atmosphere, a group of restaurateurs eventually took over India House. With a deep appreciation for both food and place, they set out to reimagine the space as a destination for dining, connection, and everyday life. They named it Peninsula House — a nod to Penang’s geography, layered history, and the spirit of cultural convergence.
To bring this vision to life, they invited Kuala Lumpur-based studio Wunderwall Design to lead the transformation. On their first visit, the designers were struck by a stark contrast. “Our first impression of India House was its strong presence on the street contrasted with an interior that felt hollow, almost forgotten,” they recall. The façade held a sense of dignity, but the interior felt vast and detached, lacking the intimacy they hoped to create.
What stayed with them were the patina on the surfaces and the way natural light filtered through the space. “Those became cues for us,” they explain. The challenge — and the opportunity — was to shape that openness into a layered spatial experience, one that honored the building’s original character while inviting new ways of inhabiting it.
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Working with a historical building often involves a set of constraints — from structural codes to heritage preservation guidelines. But for Wunderwall Design, these were not seen as limitations. Instead, they approached the existing structure and original details as a foundation for transformation, using them as reference points to guide their design decisions.
“The building’s Art Deco character gave us a strong architectural base,” the team explains. “We chose to retain the rhythm of the façade, the original balcony openings, and the building’s overall proportions, because these features defined the identity of India House.”
Rather than recreating the past, the designers focused on cultivating a dialogue between eras. Their interventions emphasized atmosphere: preserving what mattered, while gently layering in new gestures through material contrast, custom steel-framed doors, and subtle shifts in level and enclosure.
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Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
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Wunderwall Design approached the building with attentiveness, looking into its past to understand how it might evolve. Instead of adding dramatic gestures or overdesigned elements, they focused on subtle spatial qualities: the way light shifts through the rooms, the sound of footsteps, and the contrast between materials. These sensory cues helped shape an experience that feels present and grounded in daily life.
Rather than recreating what once stood, the designers encouraged a meaningful exchange between past and present. Their interventions were guided by atmosphere rather than form, introducing warmth and a sense of presence while preserving the building’s original character. Peninsula House becomes a place where intimacy develops over time, revealed through layers of texture, light, and movement.
Visitors arrive through a narrow side street and enter a dim, textured corridor. There is no signage or overt threshold. Instead, soft glows of light suggest what lies ahead. Step by step, across gently raised platforms, the spatial narrative of Peninsula House slowly comes into view.
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Photo by Hey!Cheese
Photo by TWJPTO
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“For us, design is about crafting experiences that are memorable but also quietly human.” says Wunderwall. Their approach doesn’t follow a fixed style but grows from atmosphere and place. They value restraint, tactility, and authenticity, shaping spaces that emerge slowly and feel rooted in their context. Each project begins with observing what’s already there, followed by layering materials, light, and objects in ways that feel intuitive rather than forced.
This perspective is evident in the details of Peninsula House. Movement is choreographed with care, while contrasts like limewashed walls and reclaimed wood bring subtle shifts in texture and time. Vintage pieces are arranged with precision but appear effortlessly placed, as if they had always been part of the space. Light and volume unfold gradually, shaping an experience that feels grounded, intimate, and alive.
Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
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These pieces feel as if they have always belonged here. Their surfaces carry time, anchoring the space with a subtle presence. They don’t illustrate history; they hold it, becoming part of how the place is seen, moved through, and remembered.
Photo by Hey!Cheese
Photo by Hey!Cheese
Photo by Hey!Cheese
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Culture shapes a designer’s perspective in ways that are often overlooked. “Growing up in Malaysia, we naturally became attuned to difference,” says Wunderwall. “Multiple cultures, languages, and histories coexist here, and that’s shaped how we think. We’re less interested in singular statements, and more drawn to spaces where contrast can sit together in balance.”
This outlook guides their approach to materials and the way space is composed. They let old and new overlap freely, choosing finishes that reveal age over time and suggest a place that feels long inhabited. In Peninsula House, they avoided overt cultural symbols, working instead with local craftspeople to embed texture and memory through method. Reclaimed kaya wood forms the entryway, paired with handmade lighting, aged stone, and limewash coatings that echo the tones of Penang’s older buildings.
Built with honest materials and care, the space connects deeply to its surroundings, revealing layers of culture and a sense of lived presence.
Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
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Peninsula House was never intended as a grand architectural revival. Old and new do not compete here; instead, they sit together in calm balance, allowing the presence of time to be seen and felt.
Wunderwall chose to respond to the past with restraint, weaving in moments of openness that hold space for memory and human presence to unfold. Perhaps this sense of coexistence is what makes the building’s renewed life most worth holding onto.
Photo by TWJPTO
Photo by TWJPTO
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Photo by TWJPTO
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