Home on the range

Dirty, poor, dangerous, overcrowded, teeming with drug addicts and gangsters… these are common perceptions of the Rifle Range Flats in Air Itam. The flats which were completed in the 1970s were one of Penang’s earliest low cost housing projects and were once the tallest buildings in the state – ironically, a symbol of hope for Penang’s urban poor. The nine compact high rise blocks (which range between 17 and 18 stories) were constructed out of prefabricated concrete blocks and considered an engineering marvel of their time.