Sarinah Building

Sarinah Department Store is coined by Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, to push the retail industry in Indonesia during the nation’s early years in the 1960s, making it the first mall in the country. The building’s construction was held during political unrest (G30SPKI) but it managed to be inaugurated in 1966. The building was designed by a local firm named Perentjana Djaja and was built by a government-owned Japanese contractor company, funded by Japanese war reparation funds. The original design of the building was a single-storey podium with a 13-storey tower above, and a grand staircase connecting the first level to the roof level of the podium for pedestrians. The modernist expression of the building was of its time, in congruence with the modernist movement in Indonesia during the 1960s.

Sarinah went through two fires, in 1968 and the 1980s, followed by a renovation in the 1970s designed by Atelier 6 Architects. The 1970s renovation added a tiered roof in the centre of the building. During this era, Indonesian Architects were keen to implement ‘Indonesian-ness’ in their practice, inspired by the pitched roof of traditional houses of the archipelago.

Sarinah’s existence in the 2000s-2010s was overshadowed by the further development of Thamrin Road, in which new malls and shops opened. However, the building experienced another fire in 2015, which sparked another plan to renovate the building to bring back its nostalgic modernist expression. An activated frontage was further added to elevate the property value for the incoming tenants. Since Sarinah was granted a tentative conservation status, the design team was determined to respect the former design intent of the building. The tiered roof was removed and the modernist facade reinterpreted, the podium redesigned to accommodate a high-ceiling atrium, and a discovered Soekarno-era sculpture was exhibited at the centre of the new atrium. The project was finished in 2021 and has been flocked by visitors daily.

Address : Jalan M. H. Thamrin No.11, Central Jakarta, Indonesia

Principal Architect : Perentjana Djaja

1970 Reno Architect: Atelier 6

2021 Reno Architect: Air Mas Asri

Developer/Owner : State-Owned

Completion Year : 1966

Renovation Year : 2020-2022

Site Area : 17,000 sqm

Building Height : 74 m

Building Use : Commercial

No of Storeys : 15

Sarinah’s Transformation throughout the decades

Source: Air Mas Asri