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The Petronas Towers, once the tallest buildings in the world, are about to look a lot shorter. That's because Kuala Lumpur is set to welcome a 118-storey skyscraper that would easily become Malaysia's tallest building. State-owned fund manager Permodalan Nasional Berhad is the developer behind KL118, working with Australian architects Fender Katsalidis to create a new national landmark.
The highest occupied floor will rest at a height of 494 metres. The project's crown, mechanical penthouse, and huge spire will bring the entire structure to megatall status at 644 metres. With a mammoth height comes a mammoth interior program occupying over four million square feet. That will be broken down into 80 storeys of offices, 12 storeys of 250 hotel rooms, five storeys of hotel residences, a retail business centre, and a two-level observation deck. Permodalan Nasional Berhad has already committed to taking the majority of the office space in the building, which will be served by 5,000 parking stalls.
Sited in Petaling Hill, the project will include access to the under-construction MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line. Stretching from the northwest to the southeast, the 51-kilometre rapid transit route is just the first of three Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit lines to be built across Kuala Lumpur. KL118 itself is also part of a broader development that will include several residential towers and a shopping complex. The megatall has gone through a bit of a redesign recently, forgoing its previously slim figure in favour of bulkier massing that institutes a more rigid exoskeleton.
Samsung C&T Corp and UEM Group Bhd were awarded the $505 million construction contract for the project in 2015, and now piling and foundation work has begun. The Burj Khalifa and Petronas Towers were built by a construction team that included Samsung C&T, so KL118 appears to be in good hands. Completion is expected in 2019.
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