Sultan Abdul Samad Building

The long brick facade on the west side of Kuala Lumpur's old parade ground was completed in 1897 as the offices of the administration, and its architect borrowed freely from Mughal and Moorish sources: horseshoe arches, banded brickwork, three copper onion domes and a clock tower that has become the standard photograph of the city. It reads as a single sweep of arcades, best seen from the grass of the square opposite or from the far side at night, when it is floodlit. The building still houses government offices, so the interest is entirely exterior. Around it stand the old survey and post office buildings in the same idiom, plus the mock-Tudor cricket pavilion across the field.

What you actually see

• The clock tower - the brick tower with its copper dome, the old timekeeper of the city.
• The arcaded facade - horseshoe arches and banded brickwork running the length of the square.
• The open field opposite - the former parade ground, with the mock-Tudor pavilion on its far side.
• The floodlit evening view - the domes lit against the glass towers of the modern centre behind.

When to go

Early morning gives the softest light and an empty square before tour groups arrive. Late evening is better still, when the floodlights come on and the traffic on the surrounding roads thins out. Avoid the middle of the day, when the open square offers no shade at all. Large public events close the field for days at a time, so check locally before crossing town.

Honest expectations

You are looking at an office building, and the interior is closed, so a visit is fifteen minutes of photographs unless you walk the surrounding streets too. The square is a traffic island in practice, with noise on three sides and almost no shade. Restoration scaffolding has covered sections of the facade for long stretches. Best combined with Masjid Jamek and the river confluence rather than made a destination.

Nearby

Masjid Jamek, the river confluence and the shophouses of Chinatown are within a fifteen-minute walk.