Arthur Oakley Coltman

Coltman) (1894, Edmonton, Middlesex – 1961, Cuckfield, Sussex)[1][2] was an English architect practising in Malaya for 32 years where he worked as manager of the architecture firm Booty Edwards & Partners.

The contract time for completing the structure was eight months, and the construction was to start shortly after late November 1931, with the architects reported as Messrs.

[16] On 19 September 1936, an earthquake in northern Sumatera in the then-Dutch East Indies led to tremors also being felt in the FMS, and caused damage to the building.

It was reported that the third floor wall surrounding the offices of the Oriental Government Security Life Assurance Company cracked in many places.

[19] Modernist Art Deco rules this building with its striated lines and mouldings complete with differentiated corner treatment topped with a requisite flag pole.

Currently, it is the home to a branch of the Popular Bookstore, the Peter Hoe shop (selling local arts and crafts) and Kasturi Tuition Centre.

The building was vacated, but Kuala Lumpur City Hall by-laws forbid the demolition or significant structural alteration.

It was a product of golden age cinema with featured safety designs such as emergency lighting and fire prevention systems for the projector room.

Above the entrance, a horizontal beam, embellished with a mosaic depicting drama, comedy and music, intersects the strong vertical mullions.

[29] Located at the Old Market Square (Medan Pasar Besar) near LRT Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur's commercial centre, the Clock Tower is a distinctive architectural landmark.

[33] The building displays a variety of Art Deco details, and represents a stylistic departure from the traditions of classical and British colonial architecture.

[35] The Anglo-Oriental building has solid tower-like features flanking the corner entranceways in addition to vertical and horizontal Art Deco patterns and lines.

[41][42] From 1995 to 2005, the Anglo-Oriental Building became a property of Ekran Berhad and it served as the corporate headquarters until 1 January 2005, where the second floor housed the principal place of business of the company.

On the flat, recessed brick pediment, a plaster motif of layered latex sheets hanging out to dry is a witty allusion to the industry these buildings serve.

[45] The building was designed with a clean modern profile, and features covered walkways which border the central court and give access to all parts of the institute.

Prior to the establishment of the Rubber Research Institute of Malaya, there was no centralised location to co-ordinate and consolidate information about the material that played a central role in the Malaysian economy.

[49] The structure bears more than a passing resemblance to Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, in its details and overall layout.

If this was explicit on the part of Coltman, it would be a most unusual apparition of Prairie Style in South East Asia, and an indication of the architect's ability to work within many stylistic parameters, a flexibility he exhibited throughout his long and distinguished career.

Coltman is known for his role in establishing one of the largest firms in the area, and for his part in bringing modernism to the Federated States of Malaya, later Malaysia.

This building was designed by Coltman and built in 1937 to house the headquarters of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited in Malaysia, and is a masterpiece of the Art Deco style.

Located at the junction of Jalan Hang Kasturi and Leboh Pasar Besar (just behind the Central Market), it has the advantage of double frontage.