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The
Electricity Board, Johor
Bahru
Visit date : 2012
Year of build : 1960
Current status : Demolished
and turned into a carpark |
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Eletrik
membina hidup sempurna - Electricty builds a better life
The official name for the electricity board back in the day
was the, ‘Central Electricity Board of the Federation
of Malaya’. The building featured here was their main
district office located in Johore Bahru town along Jalan Duke.
The office was officially declared open on the 22nd of April,
1961.
The building itself was simple in
form but classic in its design. The materials used were
of high quality with even the exterior tiling work retaining
a deep vibrant lustre 60 years on. Full glass windows on
both levels helped bathe the interior in natural light,
with the 1st floor having a honeycombed sun screen to diffuse
direct sunlight. The interior was simple with walls and
floors covered in pretty green mosaic tiles. The centre
piece of the interior was the wonderful spiral staircase
that wound its way up to the 1st floor.
Of course, to see all of this you had to see past all of
the destruction that lay all around. It looked like a bomb
had gone off here! Thieves had broken in weeks before and
had ransacked the place. Old files and paperwork were strewn
all around, you effectively walked several inches above
the floor the mess was piled so high. On the 1st floor it
was even worse. Hundreds of old electric meters had been
smashed up, laying a carpet of destruction in every direction.
A couple of years
later, the building suffered the same kind of fate when
it was demolished in 2014. The land was then turned into
a carpark.
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