Citadines Connect Pulau Pinang is the latest addition to the internationally revered series of luxury boutique hotels. Built-in a pre-war heritage shophouse block, the hotel consists of 79 rooms and includes a string of shop lots at the lower level.
Located just offGeorge Town’s city centre, Citadines occupies a prominent location at the intersection between Jalan Gurdwara and Lebuh Noordin. The hotel is within walking distance from Gama, Komtar and the TOP, 1st Avenue Mall and Hin Bus Depot.
With a winding façade, the existing block of colonial era shophouses features noticeably more intricate ornamentation than its immediate neighbours. As remnants of Penang’s rich past, these unique architectural elements play an important role in the placemaking of George Town. As a Heritage development, the project closely adheres to heritage conservation guidelines. Extra care has been put into ensuring that the Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) of the George Town World Heritage Site are upheld.
Made up of 29 attached shophouses, the cluster of units was combined to create a cohesive hospitality and commerce hub, equipped with 79 rooms and a row of shops on the ground floor. The design incorporates a nearby vacant land into its scheme as surface parking, providing the minimum amount of car park required to discourage the use of private vehicles in the inner city. With the completion of Baby BIDS @ Gurdwara in 2019, George Town’s CBD is taking gradual steps to becoming the most pedestrian-friendly area in the state. Noordin One/ Citadines echoes this sentiment by extending the pedestrian realm into its publicly accessible courtyard.
The architects made a bold decision to create a simple network of internal corridors by demolishing a part of the party wall separating each shophouse. Doing this allows the entire cluster to function as a cohesive hotel complex without compromising on its heritage assets. Level 1 is entirely dedicated to hotel rooms, accessible through a private liftlobby. The rooms come in a variety of sizes, from studio types to two-bedroom suites.
While a majority of the building façade is a faithful restoration of its colonial-era grandeur, the design team opted to draw pedestrians into the courtyard through a brave juxtaposition of smooth gold panelling. The gate creates a strong visual contrast, further aided by the wall finishes of the courtyard space (the grey stripes) also spilling onto the building frontage. This clever teasing creates a visual continuity that ignites a sense of discovery. This approach reciprocates the explorative nature of the colourful back lanes near Magazine Circus and other hidden spaces like the famous Hin Bus Depot.
At nearly 900sqm, The revamped courtyard features access to double-fronted shops and a large enveloping tensile roof structure. A gold-clad elevator separate from the hotel’s liftis provided as a visual anchor for visitors to access the upper-floor restaurant. The courtyard is accessed from one of two ‘Golden Gates’, funnelling visitors through a narrow corridor before unravelling the hidden public square.
The hotel features a lap pool and jacuzzi located on the rooftop. The tensile structure roof that slightly shelters the pool and deck provides protection against harsh sunlight and an improved sense of privacy. Both the gym and pool overlook the courtyard space. From the gold bubble lift, visitors can access the indoor F&B. The Citadines Connect guests may also access the F&B amenity via an elevated bridge link from the pool deck.
