Completed in 1962, the building, situated at Downing Street within the city's Central Business District (CBD), is owned by the Malaysian federal government and accommodates the Penang General Post Office (GPO).

Prior to the Japanese invasion in 1941, the U-shaped Government Offices at the junction of Downing and Beach streets functioned as the administrative seat of Penang, then part of the British crown colony of the Straits Settlements.

[1][3] In 1945, the Government Offices were largely destroyed by Allied aerial bombardment, with only a section (now occupied by the Penang Islamic Council) remaining.

[1][6] Upon its completion in 1962, The Straits Times reported that the building "contrasts sharply with the pre-war colonial façades facing the King Edward Place, Weld Quay and Beach Street".

[1][7][8] In addition to serving as the seat of government in Penang, the building was where the state's Justices of the Peace first organised into an association.