Zhongshan Building – A Creative Hub in Downtown Kuala Lumpur

A hidden gem nested in downtown Kuala Lumpur, there is an old 4-storey building which was built in the 1950s which is now turned into a creative hub.

The more than 70 years old building, located in Kampung Attap, used to be the residence of the family of Rob Tan in the early years. They rented a unit there to stay and opened a butchery called Lee Frozen on the ground floor. Eventually, they would buy up all the units in the building and began to lease them to families, many of whom would move on after a while. After some time, even the businesses have moved out and the building became a hostel for foreign workers.

When Tan inherited and took over to manage the building, there have been many suggestions to demolish it and build something else, renovate it extensively and even to rent it out to a KTV cum brothel.

However, after much consideration by the family, Tan along with his wife, Liza Ho and friend Snow Ng decided to restore it with a grant from Think City which covers a fifth of the cost to renovate the building which eventually turned into an arts and creative hub.

The location:
80 – 84, Jalan Rotan,
Off Jalan Kampung Attap,
50460 Kuala Lumpur.

The community of Zhongshan Building

Piu Piu Piu
Piu Piu Piu is a coffee stand that’s become a cult hit locally and regionally.

Tommy Le Baker
Tommy Le Baker is a French-inspired boulangerie famous for its sourdough bread. 

Kantata
A community-driven bar that celebrates all walks of life through empowerment and good ol’ karaoke.

Ana Tomy
This award-winning notebook atelier offers notebooks, journals, and planners which can all be personalised to the buyer’s preference, from the colour of the cover and spine, to the type and number of page insets, to adding a monogram on the cover.

Acid Studio Store
A physical store in the Zhongshan Building extension selling their line of graphic merchandise such as tees, hoodies, pants, tote bags, skate decks, accessories, and more.

Inkaa
Inkaa is a social enterprise which collaborates with local artisans and organisations supporting marginalised communities to produce beautiful, handcrafted batik and mengkuang products.

Re{me}dy
A low-waste apothecary aspiring to bettering everyone’s health through natural products.

Room 134
Room 134 is a shared studio space and millennial haven offering tattoos and plants.

Takos
The brand specializes in hand-embroidered and -knitted products, drawing inspiration from observations of the beautiful things in everyday life.

Malaysia Design Archive
Malaysia Design Archive (MDA) is a project co-founded by Ezrena Marwan, Jac SM Kee, and Simon Soon to map the development of graphic design in Malaysia from pre-Independence to current times.

Rumah Attap Library & Collective
Rumah Attap is a library of English-, Malay- and Chinese-language material on cultural studies, the arts, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences curated to build an open and critical alternative knowledge system that can act as a “coordinate” for navigating the city.

Ricecooker Archives
The Ricecooker Archives is a Southeast Asian rock’n’roll treasury and resource centre run by punk-rocker-for-life Joe Kidd of Carburetor Dung, an iconic Malaysian punk band that’s been disturbing the peace since ’91. 

The Back Room
The Back Room is an independent, alternative space for intimate exhibitions that aims to connect artists, creatives, curators, and the general audience through a series of exhibitions, projects, talks, and workshops.

Atelier Fitton
Atelier Fitton is a bespoke menswear atelier founded by Joshua Fitton.

Belongink Tattoo Studio
Belongink Tatto Studio is a shared studio space and millennial haven offering tattoos and plants.

Bogus Merchandise
Bogus Merchandise is the go-to silkscreen printers for anyone in the Malaysian creative arts scene looking to produce merchandise.

Muhendaran Sri
Muhendaran Sri is a private law practice which specialises in employment law, with Muhendaran focusing on trade unions and employees while Sri has a mixed practice of commercial law, civil litigation, child law, family law, probate matters, and will-writing.

The Alphabet Press
The Alphabet Press (TAP) is a bespoke letterpress stationery brand headed by the creative trio of Cliff, Zeejay, and Fidella, who are also the team behind ana-tomy.

Balai Buku Raya
Balai Buku Raya is an intimate and homely bookstore founded and curated by Alind, based on years of experience in the Malaysian independent book-selling industry.

Ejin Sha Studio
Ejin is a graphic designer whose practice focuses on visual identity, art direction, and book and exhibition design within the disciplines of art, architecture, design, retail, and dining. 

Valenlim Studio
Valenlim Studio is a graphic design and illustration studio with experience in all elements of design, including brand identity, illustration, print graphics, typography, and publication design.

Jjonalim.com
Jona Lim works in the fields of digital art, music, and entertainment, drawing in clients from all around the world.

Putticoop
Putticoop is a private studio by Kian — a designer by way of Melbourne, Berlin, and Beijing who has finally decided to settle down in his hometown of Kuala Lumpur. 

Studio Kanta
Studio Kanta is a multifaceted design studio focused on brand visual storytelling that has served both government and commercial clients.

Fono
Fono is a music-focused community space. Their regular programming consists of listening parties offering diverse music genres that are often overlooked by most, from Jamaican dub reggae to African disco, Malay funk to other Southeast Asian rarities, and beyond; always, without fail, crossing continents to select only the very best.

Tandang Records Studio
Their spirit and ethos is fundamentally punk, but their record store stocks a wide variety of musical genres across CDs, cassettes, and vinyls; with latest releases and secondhand classics; from the Nusantara and beyond.

Kanid Studio
Kanid Studio is the Kuala Lumpur home to Sarawak-born, part-Kelabit musician, activist, and storyteller, Alena Murang. 

Huruf
Huruf is a type collective, consisting of type and graphic designer Sueh Li and research associate Tan Zi Hao, that strives to encourage greater awareness of typography and type design in Malaysia.

You might also want to check out other old buildings in Kuala Lumpur that has been refurbished into exciting places: Old Buildings In Kuala Lumpur Given A New Breath of Life