PAM-PUO Architectural Heritage Inventory is a student workshop jointly organised by the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) and Politeknik Ungku Omar (PUO), Ipoh, Perak. It was held for two weeks, from 5th to 19th November 2021, to collect and record information on the Ipoh architectural heritage. The workshop involved undergraduate architecture students from PUO, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR).

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Several external mentors from UPM, Universiti Malaya (UM), PUO, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and UTAR were appointed to guide the students throughout the event. Delegates from UPM were Muhammad Nazrul Iskandar Bin Muslim, Adli Syafiq Bin Asmady, Mohd Aliff Zulhans Bin Johari, and Amy Syahirah Binti Roslan, while the appointed mentors were Associate Prof. Ar. Meor Mohammad Fared and Dr. Wan Srihani Wan Mohamed.

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This workshop aimed to create students' awareness of the importance of recording architectural heritage through detailed inventory. This inventory will develop photographic documentation of architectural heritage in Ipoh for future reference and conservation purposes. The workshop was conducted in hybrid mode, with face-to-face sessions conducted only when the students were required to visit the site from 5th to 7th November 2021. On the other hand, the interim crits, discussions and final presentation were held online.

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The opening ceremony was held on 5th November 2021 at Dewan Jubli Perak at PUO. Once launched, the programme coordinator conducted a briefing session, followed by a talk on Photography Technique for Architectural Inventory by Mr. Bong Wei Jian. The program commenced on 6th November 2021 with a group discussion among mentors regarding tasks during the site inventories.

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Students were divided into four groups to cover four selected zones around Ipoh. Each group was tasked to take pictures of the heritage building from different perspectives and record all the information on the background, building style, and history. The students also interviewed the current owner of the building or the locals who lived in Ipoh. Some groups took the opportunity to revisit their dedicated buildings on 7th November 2021, while others proceeded with preparing for presentations.

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From 8th until 11th November 2021, the data was compiled and analysed. Since the programme included a few institutions, students must submit all work done online. Each group was required to submit three items: thematic posters, inventory posters and 3-minute videos. All mentors reviewed all the works presented during the interim crit session on 12th November 2021. Students proceeded with the amendments based on the comments and prepared materials for the final presentation on 19th November 2021.

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The final outcomes of the event were exhibited at PAM Centre on 6th December 2021. Undoubtedly, the students' whole experience of analysing Ipoh's rich culture through its architectural forms and teamwork offered them a great experience and an exciting way of learning architecture.