Lawang Sewu Building (Lawang Sewu: A Thousand Doors)

The History

Semarang’s Lawang Sewu used to be the headquarter of Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS), The East Indies’ first Railway Company. The construction was started on 27 February 1904, and Building A (the first Building) could be finished in 1907. It was officially used on 1 July 1907.

Lawang Sewu is one of the material/physical heritages. The building, which was designed by architects Prof. Jacop K Klinkhamer and BJ Oendaag by the beginning of 1900s, was believed to be a picture of Semarang’s urban culture of that time. It wasn’t simply an architecture exploration because people’s interaction in the City was obviously figured. Semarang might be a cosmopolitan in the era and became an inspiration for Soerabaia, Batavia and Bandoeng.

The Construction

In the end of 1863, Nederlandsch Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS) had owned a piece of land of 18.232 m2 that was located around Tugu Muda roundabout called Wilhelmina Plein, at the Bodjongweg crossroad (currently called Pemuda Street). Then an architect Ir. P. de Rieu was assigned to design and build the security guard’s house and offset on that area. At the same time he was assigned to design the main building for the office of Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS).

The construction was started on 27 Febrary 1904 and finished in July 1907. The first two buidings constructed were the security guard’s house and the offset, then the main building later. After being used for several years, the office was expanded by adding another building to the northeast in 1916-1918.

The Usage

In July 1907, Lawang Sewu was used as the office of Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS). Then in 1942-1945 it was used as the office of Riyuku Sokyuku (Japan’s Transportation Bureau). In 1945 it became the office of DKRI (Djawatan Kereta Api Republik Indonesia)/Railway Bureau of the Republic of Indonesia. When there was a Dutch colonial aggression in 1946, it became their army post. Later in 1949, the building was given back to the railway company (it was called PERUMKA, and is now called PT. KAI), then was several years used by Transportation Bureau which was (then starting in 2009) restored by PT. KAI Ltd.

The History of Building B (additional building)

After being used for several years, there was a need of additional space for office rooms in Building A (main building), then a new 23x77 m additional building on the northeast was constructed.  This building was built in 1916 and finished in 1918. At a glance, the building looks like that of the main building, but it has different construction. The new building uses reinforced concrete construction so as to the brickwalls do not hold heavy mass, meanwhile the main building uses bearing wall structure. Not only because of technology development, reinforced concrete construction is aimed at maximizing the use of local materials. NIS had learned not to use imported materials any longer for its complication. 

The Naming

The naming Lawang Sewu comes from the way Semarang’s local people call the building. Lawang means door and Sewu means a thousand, a toponym of this building since years ago because it has a lot of doors.

The Stages of Restoration

1.      August-September 2009: hall and lobby of Building A (main building) initial restoration to test the materials and the technical work.

2.      1 June 2010-25 February 2011: stage 2 of the Buildings A and C (ex-offset/museum) restoration. Then it was inaugurated by the First Lady Ani Yudhoyono on 5 July 2011. 

3.  16 May2014-23 February 2015: stage 3 restoration of Buildings B (additional building), D (waiting room/healthcare room) and E (Ex-security guard’s house, office of the management).