The edifice was built at an interesting time considering the on-going development of architecture styles in Indonesia; it was built shortly after 1879, the where the Dutch Parliament sanctioned two laws (sugar and land). The decision spurred the growth of agriculture industry and encouraged commercial and governmental bodies to establish new of ces in Batavia, Medan, Semarang and Surabaya.

It was the start to the ‘Europeanisation’ of Indonesia, which changed people’s lifestyle and affected the Indonesian architecture. The edifice, originally built as the head office of De Javasche Bank and later reused as the Bank of Indonesia Museum, was one of the early works of a group of architects led by M.J. Hulswit, A.A. Fermont and Eduard Cuypers in 1909. Their style reflected the traditional (western) design – it’s replete with the aura and characteristics of a formal structure and order that makes it perfectly suited to its function to contain a monetary institution.

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The design concept is to reuse the building itself, which contains a treasured history of the Indonesian architecture, and to maintain the continuity of the building that has remained in the corridor of monetary activities since the beginning. Therefore, the first stage of conservation was to restore the building’s original forms along with their details, which had undergone 06 several changes since it was opened for the first time.

Several features that were added after the war were reanalysed: if they still adhere by the basic concept of the original building as designed by Hulswit, Fermont and Cupers, then the features were said to be acceptable and were placed inside the building, otherwise some adjustments had to be made and that could include a total dismantling of an element.

The next stage for the building’s reutilisation involved several adjustments that were made to suit the modern needs, such as the comfort level of public facility, good lighting scheme and aeration, and other amenities that would make visitors feel comfortable. This was done by maintaining, or even re-enacting, how it used to feel to be inside the ‘directie’ rooms for the visitors. The same thing was implemented in several rooms, such as the service counters that look different from those found in modern banking system. The finishing materials’ original condition was preserved although in several areas there were damaged floors because of old age.