Bee Eu Tan, the founder of BETA (BEu Tan Architect), is an award-winning architect recognised for her work in restoring heritage buildings in her native Penang and beyond. Her maiden project in Alor Setar, the Kedah Digital Library, won gold at the PAM (Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia) Awards 2022’s Adaptive Reuse Category, giving her a total of seven design awards and a third gold at the PAM Awards in the last four years.

Tan’s remarkable trajectory had its humble start in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur where she built a diverse portfolio to include local and international projects involving concept design, masterplanning and project management. Upon returning to Penang, she established her own boutique practice focusing on honest architecture and back to basics design. Her first project, restoring the Penang Institute’s colonial Annex Bungalow, kick-started a career in architectural conservation.

This was followed by The Penang Digital Library, formerly the Penang Free School’s headmaster’s quarters which Tan transformed into the first standalone, built-for-purpose library without books. The project was awarded the Alteration and Addition Category gold medal at the PAM 2019, making Tan’s company, BETA, the youngest practice to win a top prize. BETA would take home another PAM gold medal two years later, this time in the Adaptive Reuse Category, for the redesign of Harmony Centre - Penang’s first interfaith communal building.

More heritage buildings would benefit from Tan’s sensitive treatment, including the elegant George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) office building, and the art deco-style Penang Hill Gallery @Edgecliff. Tan continues to share her vision for preserving built heritage as the organiser of Pechakucha Penang, a global networking event that originated in Tokyo where architects, designers and artists share ideas.