Royal Bank of Scotland Building, George Town

The Royal Bank of Scotland Building, situated on Beach Street, is an exemplary double-storey Neo-Classical structure designed by Wilson & Neubronner and finalized in 1905. Originally, the land was occupied by Scott and Co., a mercantile enterprise owned by James Scott, the trading partner of Captain Francis Light. Scott's warehouses spanned 293 feet of prime seafront, accommodating numerous early mercantile firms on Penang Island.

In 1903, the property was acquired by the Netherlands Trading Society (NTS), established in Amsterdam in 1824 to reestablish Dutch mercantile presence in Southeast Asia. Evolving from its financial support of sugar and tobacco plantations in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), NTS transformed into a bank, with its main branch in Batavia (now Jakarta). Its George Town branch was established in 1888, leading to the construction of the Neo-Classical style building we see today. The façade consists of a series of arches rendered with keystoning and imitation rustification. Originally featuring a domed turret, it was later altered to its current squarish shape.

In 1964, following a merger, the company operated as Algemene Bank Nederland N.V. (ABN). Another merger occurred in 1991 with Amro Bank, forming ABN Amro Bank; however, in 2007, a consortium comprising the Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis, and Banco Santander acquired ABN Amro Bank.

Meanwhile, the building underwent renovation in 1988 and has since served various purposes. At one point, it housed a Chinese cafe. From 2000 to 2008, it was used by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang Island's sole public university, to exhibit Malay art pieces.