Others · Columbarium · Penang
The project
Columbarium 1A & 1B is Hengthor Architect's design for a place of remembrance in Penang. Its main hall takes the form of a lotus — tiers of white, petal-shaped shells rising from a reflecting lake — set among gardens, pavilions and courtyard buildings. Inside, the name of Amitabha Buddha (阿彌陀佛) is carved around a domed hall.

Design approach
Inside, a long timber-lined corridor is cut through with the characters 阿彌陀佛 — Amitabha Buddha — so sunlight draws their shapes across the floor. The same name is carved again and again around a circular, domed hall, where a white Buddha sits on a lotus pedestal beneath an oculus.
A lotus-form hall on its lake, at the heart of a campus of gardens, pavilions and courtyards.
Tiers of white, petal-shaped shells rise from a reflecting lake at the heart of the site.
Timber walls and a domed hall carved with Amitabha Buddha's name, lit by the sun and an oculus.
A pavilion gateway, a statue courtyard and a lotus pond with a hexagonal pavilion, softened by willows and bamboo.
Our work
A pavilion gateway with sweeping, upturned eaves marks the way in. Paths lead past white statues in a planted courtyard and on to a lotus pond with a hexagonal pavilion reached across the water.



Project gallery
A white lotus rising from still water, halls carved with the name of Amitabha Buddha, and gardens of pavilions and ponds.