BEP Akitek Sdn Bhd

BEP Akitek Sdn Bhd
IndustryArchitecture
Founded1923; 101 years ago (1923)
FoundersRalph Booty, Sidney James
Headquarters
Malaysia
Websitewww.bepakitek.com

BEP Akitek Sdn Bhd (formerly as Booty Edwards & Partners) is an architectural firm based in Malaysia.[1] Ralph Booty & Sidney James[2] set up their practice in Singapore in 1910[3] and began the Booty Edwards & Partners firm on September 7, 1923.[4] Ralph Booty had previously operated the firm Ralph Booty and Co. The new firm was first called Booty and Edwards.[5]Arthur Oakley Coltman bought the firm in 1930.[6] It was later called Booty, Edwards & Partners and the firm operated with offices in Colombo, Penang as well as Kuala Lumpur.[7] In 1969 the firm was renamed BEP Akitek Sdn Bhd, the name it still carries.[8] A major event in the firm's early history is when it won an architectural competition for the design of Colombo’s Town Hall and Municipal Offices, held in 1922.[9] The Town Hall remains an imposing landmark in Colombo city. On May 24, 1924, the foundation stone was laid to build this magnificent building to house the Municipal Council of the country's principal city.

The firm became a major force in the development of Southeast Asia's architecture in the 20th century. It not only was responsible for some of the major governmental and commercial buildings in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, it also ushered in a new type of architectural practice: a major office run on the corporate model established by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), in the United States. Many of the major Art Deco and modernist buildings came from architects who worked in the offices of Booty, Edwards, and Partners.

  1. ^ see the reference
  2. ^ "ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පුරෝගාමී වාස්‌තු විද්‍යාතන අතර සුප්‍රසිද්ධතම නාමය E.R.& B". Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. ^ The Architecture of Malaysia. Pepin Press. 1992. p. 243. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Page 16 Advertisements Column 5". The Straits Times. 11 September 1923. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Untitled". The Straits Times. 8 September 1923. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  6. ^ The Architecture of Malaysia. Pepin Press. 1992. p. 243. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Untitled". The Straits Times. 29 January 1929. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  8. ^ refine (PDF). BRDB. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Colombo's Public Offices". The Straits Times. 6 March 1923. p. 10. Retrieved 30 June 2023 – via NewspaperSG.