Documentation of the architectural

characteristics of Old Tollinton

Market
• Tollinton Market History
• In 1864 as a result of the Industrial revolution of the 1850’s, a movement started in the Punjab
for developing local arts and industries. Subsequently, it was decided to organize the First
Punjab Exhibition in Lahore. To display vast number of exhibits, a special building, now known
as Tollinton Market, was erected in the vicinity of the famous Anarkali Bazaar. While Mr.
Lockwood Kipling, C.I.E. was Curator of the Museum, the design of the building was prepared
by Bhai Ram Singh. The building was completed in 1894, and all the collections were
immediately transferred to it.
• Sir Robert Montgomerie opened the exhibition in January 1864. In May 1864 it was converted
into a Central Museum. In 1893 the Old Central Museum was shifted to the new Building. In
1895 Sir Ganga Ram repaired the Halls for converting it into a Municipal Market. In 1920 the
Market was repaired with alterations and named Tollinton. The Illustrated London News
printed a couple of sketches showing the façade and the interior of Tollinton market, so
important was this exhibition center. The name Tollinton market was the name of a Lahore
District Commissioner. It is not clear whether the name was Tollinton or Tollington.
• Battle for Tollinton Market: 1994 – 2000.
• The Land Mafia [ aka Qabza Group] of Lahore along with the minions of Lahore Development
authority and the Lahore Municipal Corporation became the [10 storey] Plaza & Parking Lot
protagonists. On the conservation side were the Museum of Lahore, the Pakistan Heritage
Foundation , Lahore Conservation Society and the Ajuman-e Mimaran whose President is Kamil
Khan Mumtaz . Dr Ahmed Hasan Dani was also on the board of the Lahore Museum and is
perhaps the most important & senior archaeologist of Pakistan. Dr. Ajaz Anwar held a slide
show on 30 th October 1994 to "Save Tollinton". In addition he painted a water color of the
Tollinton Market called Gambit
• All buildings over 75 years old are protected by the Antiquities act amended in 1992. The
details of the Tollinton Market Battle are documented in a calendar brought out in 1997 by Dr
Ajaz Anwar [Professor at NCA, Lahore] on Tollinton Market.
• Around 1994, a group of students at the NCA spontaneously took to the streets and fellow
Lahoris joined them in their protest to save the Tollinton market building. The government
eventually decided to save the Tollinton market building by renovating it and also by donating
RS 40 million to carry out the repairs [ actual spent is about Rs 30million].
• Memories of Tollinton Market :
• Scholars & Students from the nearby institutions of Punjab University, Government College,
King Edward Medical College, and the National College of Arts have always dropped by and
served as the plebian/proletarian customers of Tollinton market. One remembers the Tangiers
Milk Bar and the Capri Restaurant. Shopping by the Begums of Lahore [BOLs] was also a key
economic indicator. Al Fatah stores now near Liberty Market in Gulberg was situated at the
end of the building. The building housed a Meat & Fish Market in one Hall with high roofs and
a Vegetable & Fruit market Hall at the other end. In 1950’s as kids we would frequent these
places with our shopping mothers. Later in our 1960’s student days, the favourite snacks were
the "Bund Kebabs" with Cokes or a "Hunters Beef" sandwich. Outside on the verandah were
the Magazine shops.
• During Christmas, turkeys would be sold by the poultry merchants who eventually [courtesy
the foul smell of the chicken refuse ] managed to destroy the Tollinton market and were
moved to Jail Road. Tollinton Market big shoppers /customers have included the rich and
powerful, from the governors of Punjab to the senior Civil servants and the feudal gentry.
• From a museum to a market… The building was constructed in 1864 to host the Punjab
Exhibition which was inaugurated by Lt Governor Sir Robert Montgomery and showcased
manufactured goods, antiques and paintings. Later that year, one wing of the building served
as the Lahore Museum while the remainder was used as a hall for public meetings. A few
decades later, probably in the late 1910s, the building was converted into a market where one
could buy fresh fruit and vegetables, groceries and poultry.
• A market evolves… Over the years, the number of shops in the Market increased and included
ones that sold ornaments, spices, tea, books and even birds, much like Empress Market in
Karachi. All this in addition to several dhaabas and restaurants. Unfortunately, although during
the Raj it was known to be “spanking clean” it fell prey to neglect and disrepair and ceased to
be a shopping venue for the city’s elite.
• Coming full circle… In 2006, the Market was closed down. The interior was renovated and the
exterior restored, after which it was converted into a museum once again – the Lahore
Heritage Museum. It comprises three halls, and so far the Museum has only been open to the
public on a few occasions such as when seminars, photography and art exhibitions have been
held there. Plans are underway to set up a ‘Hall of Fame’ in the Museum, where photographs
of well-known residents of Lahore (ranging from Sir Ganga Ram, Rudyard Kipling to Noor Jehan
and Ustad Alah Baksh) will be displayed.
• Books, clothes and more… The famous Anarkali Bazaar is located nearby which is always worth
a trip thanks to the presence of a multitude of stores that deal in art supplies, electronic
appliances, fabrics, handicrafts, shoes and stationery. Mall Road, for its part, attracts its fair
share of visitors, mainly due to well-known bookshops including Siddique Books, Vanguard
Books and Co-Opera within its periphery.
• In a nutshell… Although it is a once again a Museum, this colonial structure continues to be
referred to as Tollinton Market. And while much has changed since it was built, it continues to
serve as a reminder of the days of the Raj.
 Building design

• The original building, modeled after the prevalent bungalow design, utilized encircling
verandahs with sloping tiled roofs supported on simple wooden posts. The main exhibition
hall, with a length of 112', rose above the verandah roof, its pitched roof with gable ends,
sporting an array of dormer windows for bringing natural light into the hall. Two square
towers rose 12' above the roof of the main hall, supplementing the natural light entering the
central section of the hall.

The facade was designed to express the wooden structure of the building consisting of posts
and a sloping roof fabricated with wooden trusses, while internally brick walls were used to
support the trusses. To introduce a feeling of unlimited space, these walls were punctuated
by a multitude of pointed arch openings, around which displays in the form of stalls were
arranged.
 Colonial Revival: 1880-1955
• Typical Features:
• Accentuated front door with decorative pediment supported by pilasters or extended
forward and supported by slender columns to form entry porch
• Fanlights and sidelights common; Palladian windows common
• Façade symmetry; centered door; aligned windows
• Double-hung sash windows usually with multi-pane glazing; frequently in adjacent pairs;
multi-pane upper sash with single pane lower sash and bay windows (not historically
accurate) were popular
• One-story wings, usually with a flat roof and commonly embellished with a balustrade
• Broken pediments, rare on original colonial structures popular in Colonial Revival examples
• Door surrounds tend to be shallow (less deep) than originals and exhibit machine-planed
smoothness
• Dormers, often with exaggerated, eclectic pediments
• Masonry cladding grew in popularity as technology for using brick or stone veneer improved
after 1920
• Gable, Hipped, or Gambrel roofs
• Details tend to be exaggerated with larger proportions than original elements
• Details from two or more types of Colonial styles often combined so pure replicas of a
particular style are far less common than eclectic mixtures
• Interior floor plans are not symmetrical and are more open than historic examples
 Colonial Era, Architecture of Lahore
• The subcontinent was ruled by the British during 1857-1947 during which they left an impact in the
region. From bringing changes to the values, improving infrastructure and adding a new side to the
architectural side of the sub-continent. After 1947 Pakistan came to being but it still had been
affected by the changes brought by the British.

• Lahore being the heart of Pakistan had gone through several changes. The British occupation of
Lahore took place in a protracted but concerted manner

• Different from the Mughal architecture the colonial era architecture consisted of simpler designs. The
Mughals focused more on constructions of Forts, Palaces and Mosques while the colonial
architecture introduced buildings which focused more on benefiting the natives such as Universities
to Government offices. The Mughal architecture used arches in windows, doorways while the new
British colonial architecture introduced cubical shaped building with simple designs ignoring curves
and arches. Important buildings constructed by the British included the High Court, Government
College, Tollinton Market and many more. Rather than focusing on massively constructed buildings,
the British focused on smaller buildings through which they introduced their own architectural
designs into Lahore.

• The colonial era architecture had a few basic designs such as handcrafted wooden work, high
columns giving support to slopping roofs. An example of this is the Tollinton Market. The British
introduced the importance of education in the region by constructing colleges and universities most
famous of which are Aitchison College and the University of Punjab.