Petronas Towers – Malaysia
Malaysia’s ambition with these twin towers was years ahead of other southeast Asian countries, and perhaps depicts its long mindset of being forward thinking and futuristic.
Profile
- Height: 452m
- Floors: 88
- Built: 1998
- Use: offices + shopping centre
- Location: Kuala Lumpur, population 8.0m
Background
The Petronas towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2003, when they were overtaken by Taipei 101.
Includes 76 lifts, 29 of which are double deckers. The upper decks take visitors to even numbered floors, the lower decks to odd numbered floors. The lifts are also divided into short-, mid- and long-haul to serve different parts of the towers.
Each tower weighs a massive 600,000 tonnes (partly due to the use of reinforced concrete rather than steel – see below under ‘construction’)
‘Petronas’ refers to the national petroleum company of Malaysia, whose HQ resides in Tower 1.
Design
By architect Cesar Pelli (who also designed the tallest buildings in Latvia [Z Towers] and Chile [Gran Torre Santiago, click here for that case study])
The tower shape takes inspiration from traditional Islamic art. For example, the shape of floor plate is based on the Rub el Hizb – a traditional 8-point star which represents harmony + stability.
The facade consists of glass panels covered with stainless steel visors, adorned with classic geometric patterns, to protect the building from the heat of the sun.
The top pinnacles of each tower house specialist equipment such as aircraft warning lights.
The Sky Bridge
A ‘Sky bridge’ connects the two towers and is part of the iconic shape of the towers, acting as a gateway to the city. It’s a double decker joing the towers at floors 41 and 42. At 58m long, it was constructed on the ground then hoisted up to its position 170m in the air. Engineered by Kukdong Engineering + Construction.
The bridge is not actually rigidly attached to the buildings; instead a mechanism allows it to slide in and out if the towers sway. The 42m steel ‘legs’ change their angle if the towers move closer or further apart in the wind.
the Sky Bridge with its ‘legs’ 
from inside the bridge
As well as its aesthetic impact, the sky bridge improves safety – as it’s possible to cross into the other tower in the event of fire.
Construction
Construction: by Alimak group.
Structural engineers: Thornton Tomasetti (which has a NYC HQ) and Ranill Berskutu (a Malaysian company).
Although almost identical, the towers were constructed by different companies to ease the speed of construction. Tower 1 (west) is by Hazama Corporation (a Japanese company). Tower 2 (east) is by Samsung C&T Corporation (a South Korean company). The use of two separate companies allowed for construction to be completed within 6 years.
The pinnacles are each 73m high and were constructed one in Japan and the other in South Korea. They were then dismantled for shipping, and reconstructed at the site in Kuala Lumpur.
The towers feature a ‘tube in tube’ structural design – by Fazlur Rahman Khan. They consist of a reinforced concrete core, composed of 16 columns that taper inward to give the unique shape. This is surrounded by mega columns on the periphery, which allow for vast floor expanses without columns in the rest of the space.
In contrast to most skyscrapers of this scale, reinforced concrete was chosen as the primary material instead of steel. This is because steel is expensive to import and the Malaysian contractors had more experience building with reinforced concrete. Despite increasing the buildings’ weight significantly, the heaviness of the concrete makes the towers better at resisting swaying than other comparable steel towers.
The towers required the world’s deepest foundations because of their weight and the quality of the soil. This included 104 piles up to 114m deep – requiring a huge concrete pour.
Efforts were made to source materials locally, with all the timber and concrete used of Malaysian origin, as well as many interior furnishings such as tiles. 60% of the total materials were sourced locally.
construction site of the Petronas Towers
A key element was to ensure both towers stood completely vertical – for the sake of aesthetics, safety and the lift shafts. This required careful monitoring of the towers’ angle regularly during construction.
Contractors minimised artificial lighting costs by focussing on finishing works during the day and larger construction work at night.
The Future?
A new skyscraper has been planned for Kuala Lumpur and is now under construction. It’s called ‘the Exchange’ and is planned to be 492m in height with 92 floors. Although its height means it will overtake the Petronas Towers as the tallest building in the country, I’m sure the twin towers will remain a landmark and symbol of an increasingly modernised and forward thinking Malaysia.
[Image credits for this page: foundtheworld.com, petronastwintowers.com, wonderfulmalaysia.com, expatgo.com, straitstimes.com]