One almost done, one has half way to go, and one is still on ground. Updates on three supertall construction projects in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur is ranked among one of the best city skylines in the world. It gained such recognition due to its splendid array of clustered buildings topped with the iconic Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower. However, the city skyline is going to further transform, thanks to the many new skyscrapers currently being built in the city. They are going to immensely impact the city skyline due to their enormous heights. The city won’t look the same after every few years and I look forward to see more tall and nice-looking buildings being constructed in the city.

Here are the 3 supertall skyscraper projects in Kuala Lumpur that are receiving high attention and shown together are their latest construction images. Render is shown for each project below too. Supertall building refers to a building that exceeds 300 metres in height.

1.Four Seasons Place. 

It is a 65-storeys mixed use tower currently under construction besides the Petronas Twin Towers. Once completed, it will have a final height of 343 metres. It will contain a hotel, serviced residences and a shopping mall at the podium. After undergoing multiple delays and design changes in the past, the tower has now finally rising quickly. It has structurally topped out not long ago and the work on the building’s crown has started. It will top out architecturally before last quarter of the year and will open next year. Once completed, it will be the third tallest building in the country, right after the two twin towers that sat beside it. Now, it has already made the twin towers to look not as tall as in the past eventhough it is still shorter than them by a little over 100 metres.

 

This one is ALMOST DONE.

2. TRX Exchange 106 Tower. 

It is a 106-storeys office tower currently under construction at the Tun Razak Exchange site. Once completed, this new region will become the financial hub of the city. Once completed, the tower will have a final height of 452 metres. It surprisingly will have the same height as the Petronas Twin Towers. You may wonder that it should be taller than the twin towers since it almost has over 20 floors more than the twin towers? Nope. It’s because this TRX Tower has no spire to add up to its height. The construction for this tower is very fast and it has now already half way to its top. It has now already making a huge impact to the city’s skyline. The highlight of the tower will be its crystalline crown.

This one is HALF WAY TO FINISH.

3. PNB118 Merdeka Tower.

It is a 118-storeys office tower currently under construction on the lot bordering the historical Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur. It is just right opposite my former secondary school, the Methodist Boys School KL. Once completed, it will be the tallest building in the country as well as among the top five tallest buildings in the world at a height of 644 metres. It will surpass the height of Shanghai Tower (632 metres), One World Trade Center (541 metres), Taipei 101 (508 metres) and many other skyscrapers across the world. However, its construction has been very slow and I read a news somewhere that it experienced problem with its foundation. I predict that it will be completed by 2020 or 2021. It will reach this immense height of over 600 metres due to its very long spire at the top.

 

This one is still not rising and is STILL ON GROUND WORK.

Hoping to see great progress from these skyscraper projects once I’m back to KL end of this year.

(Images in this post are from skyscrapercity.com forum webpages)

Construction update: Shanghai Tower rises up so quick!

Shanghai Tower, is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. Designed by Gensler, it will be the tallest of a group of three supertall buildings in Pudong, the other two being the Jin Mao Tower (421 m) and the Shanghai World Financial Center (492 m). Shanghai Tower is slated for a height of 632 metres with over 120 floors. When completed, it would become the tallest building in Shanghai, tallest building of any kind in China, and the world’s second tallest building, only behind Burj Khalifa.

Construction of the tower started on late 2008 and is expected to be completed by next year (2014). Looking from its current construction speed, I believed this tower would be completed on time without any major issues. Thanks to the impressive efficiency shown by the construction workers, the tower now reaches around the height of 530 metres, only around 100 metres left from its final peak. Its central core had almost reached its final level already, and the construction had approximately reached above 110th floor. What’s left would be only structures of several floors above, interior works, external cladding, services installation, and extension of its cladding to the top to reach full height. There is no spire in this design which I’m happy for it as such design is not suitable for an addition of pinnacle to raise its height.

 

The tower is now expected to top out by end of this year. But from even now, it is the tallest building in China already, towering above its two neighbouring supertalls. Let’s move on to a bit of its design. The tower take the form of nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other, totalling 121 floors, all enclosed by the inner layer of the glass facade. Between that and the outer layer, which twists as it rises, nine indoor zones will provide public space for visitors. The transparent façade is a unique design feature, because most buildings have only a single façade using highly reflective glass to lower heat absorption, but the Shanghai Tower’s double layer of glass will eliminate the need for either layer to be opaqued.

This building looks impressive to me. I like how the idea of twisting form which symbolises something like a dragon flying up to the sky as reported by Chinese media and also the double-glass concept. Then, came a number of sustainability approach I have learnt from my previous research towards this building which is very good and helps to make it an efficient green building, a very essential element in buildings nowadays. The height is crazy, and I’m looking forward to visit the building if I am given the opportunity. What’s more impressive to me now is its construction progress. I was shocked just now when I checked on its progress. Too quick! Crazy! The tower now stands so huge and tall even when it’s not even finished yet. Marvelous! A massive architectural piece is coming up!

 

Shanghai is so beautiful especially at night. It has one of the best skylines in the world. Too bad, I have had not been there before. Perhaps, I would choose to only visit the city once this Shanghai Tower is completed and opened to the public. It would be an impressive trip to me observing so many modern skyscrapers in the city. China is now in a massive construction boom. Even not long after Shanghai Tower is completed, its title of tallest building in China would quickly be overtaken by 660 m tall Pingan International Finance Center in Shenzhen by 2016.

(All images in this post are from skyscrapercity forum on topic of this particular building. Information in this post are from various credible sources throughout the world wide web)

Superb construction speed of the Shanghai Tower

Few months ago, I do check on the construction updates of several famous skyscrapers including the Shanghai Tower, which is a supertall under construction in Pudong district and would reach over 630 metres in height. For your extra information, there are three planned skyscrapers for the development of the Pudong district to become Shanghai’s most iconic metropolis zone. Two have already been built; 421m Jin Mao Tower built in 1998 and 492m Shanghai World Financial Center in 2008. Now, Shanghai Tower, the tallest of the three, is under construction and rising up quickly, just besides the two other skyscrapers….and it is rising up really quick.

I believe ‘Shanghai Tower’ is only a temporary name given to this supertall which is going to be the second tallest building in the world once completed in 2014, just behind Burj Khalifa. A more formal and official name would be announced soon. Do you know what is the architecture firm behind this fantastic slightly-twisted double-facade structure appearing like a dragon soaring to the sky according to Chinese perspective? It is Gensler, and this is their first skyscraper project. For your extra information, Cesar Pelli designed Jin Mao Tower and Kohn Pederson Fox designed Shanghai World Financial Center which is currently the tallest in China.

Going back to the construction progress of the iconic tower. Few months ago, the progress is seen that the tower is in its foundation stage. Now, when I look again at the same forum discussing on the tower from skyscraperpage.com, the progress stunned me. The tower’s construction has reached over 50 floors, which is about the height of over 230m as of current. Of course, there are many more floors up above, but looking at the speed of the construction, everything seems good, and the tower looks convincing to be completed before the deadline, two years later, somewhere in 2014.

Now, we see another gigantic structure rising in Shanghai. And it’s rising fast. Once this tower is completed which marked the end of the vision to have three supertalls in the Pudong area, I would want to go there and have a look, and perhaps going up to the observatories for amazing views too. Shanghai is a fast-developing city, and I found a picture from the same forum as well depicting the Pudong area back in decades ago and comparing it with its condition now. Huh…amazing! The pace is somewhat similar to Dubai. A piece of flat land turned to home of hundred of skyscrapers! Wow…

(The pictures above are from this thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=116595)