Soo K. Chan grew up inside the Khoo Kongsi clan compound in George Town, Penang — so when SCDA Architects was commissioned to convert a cluster of early twentieth-century Straits Chinese shophouses into Soori Penang, the project carried a weight of personal memory that most hotel commissions never approach. Chan returned each of the fifteen suites to a single-dwelling configuration, stripping away decades of subdivision to reveal the spatial logic the shophouses were built around: deep narrow plans drawing light through airwells, original timber roof beams left exposed overhead, and tiled courtyards that now hold small reflection pools flanked by antique stone guardian lions. The result sits within George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site with an authority that comes from genuinely understanding what was already there. The interiors move in a different direction from the shophouse facades — those white-plastered elevations with dark-painted louvered shutters and gilt Chinese signage belong entirely to the Peranakan mercantile tradition — but the shift inside feels earned rather than jarring. Rooms are finished in pale oak panelling, woven cane headboard inserts lit from behind, and floor-to-ceiling ribbed fabric screens that soften natural light filtering through restored shutters. The bar pulls the original blackened timber beams into a darker atmosphere altogether: cement-troweled walls, slate-tiled floors, a curved marble counter, and banquette seating in grey leather. The two worlds — heritage shell and spare contemporary interior — are held together by Chan's precision with material weight and his evident familiarity with exactly what he was working inside.