Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Kuala Lumpur City Centre
General information
Location	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Groundbreaking	March 1993
Construction started	1 January 1996
Completed	1 January 1997
Inaugurated	31 August 1999 (1999-08-31)
Renovated	1 January 1998

Kuala Lumpur City Centre is a multipurpose development area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area is located around Jalan Ampang, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Binjai, Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Pinang. There are a number of shopping complexes such as Suria KLCC and Avenue K. There are also hotels within walking distance such as G Tower, Mandarin Oriental, Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and InterContinental Kuala Lumpur hotel.

Designed to be a city within a city, the 100-acre site hosts the tallest twin buildings in the world, shopping mall, hotels, office buildings and several hotels. A public park and a mosque is also built on the area and open to everyone. The whole project is cooled via district cooling located on the property.

History

The site of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre was historically part of an affluent suburban residential area north of the old Kuala Lumpur town, linked to the town via Ampang Road and populated by bungalows and mansions dating as far back as the colonial early-20th century. The centrepiece of the area was the original site of the Selangor Turf Club,^[1] with many houses constructed around the site to capitalise on views of the racing course. As large scale development moved northwards from old Kuala Lumpur town after the 1950s, development of the area gradually shifted from low-density residential homes to high-density commercial complexes and offices, raising the appeal of developing the suburb into a new commercial centre for Kuala Lumpur. In 1988, the Selangor Turf Club site and adjoining residential parcels were sold to be cleared away for the KLCC project; the Turf Club was subsequently relocated to Sungai Besi. In the subsequent years after the relocation of the Turf Club, more surrounding residential plots were acquired for further development of the KLCC.

Development zone

KLCC is a 100-acre land area with mixed developments in various stages of construction. The area is divided into several plots of land, each with a specific purpose.

Zoning is based on the KLCC Masterplan.^[2]

Offices

Offices in the KLCC area are homes to largest companies in Malaysia in which the Petronas Twin Towers is the centre piece.

Petronas Twin Towers

Built on 1 January 1992 until 31 December 1994, the Petronas Twin Towers was the tallest building in the world from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2004. Currently, it still holds the record for the tallest twin buildings in the world. It is the headquarters of Petronas, a Fortune 100 state owned oil company and also the largest company in South East Asia.

The towers and the mall below were designed by Argentinian born architect César Pelli. Construction started in 1991 and completed 7 years after, in midst of Asian Financial Crisis and Reformasi movement. Due to the soil conditions on the tower, the buildings were built on one of the deepest foundations in the world. The Building Services Engineer was Flack + Kurtz who is currently part of the WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff Company.

The 88-storey towers were built using mostly reinforced concrete, with steel-and-glass facade to resemble Islamic motifs, a religion followed by the majority of Malaysia. The cross section of the tower resembles Rub el Hizb, further solidifies the Islamic motif in the tower design.

Menara Exxon Mobil

Menara Exxon Mobil was built on 1 January 1997 and it is the headquarters of the Malaysian subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, one of the largest listed company in the world.

The 126 m (413 ft), 30-storey tower is a rectangular shaped building, with a virtually column free interior. For aesthetics, the north and south elevations are set-back at level 5, while the north elevation facing the public park is further set-back at levels 22 and 26

Menara Carigali

Officially Menara 3 Petronas, this tower is a 60 story tower which is completed in 2012. The tower is connected with the shopping mall Suria KL

The tower is also designed by César Pelli with construction started in 2006 and finished in 2012. The tower has a separate entrance facing Mandarin Oriental and also a tunnel link towards Lot D1. Lot D1 will be a future development by the owner, KLCC Properties. The Building Services Engineer was Flack + Kurtz who is currently part of the WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff Company.

The cross section of the tower features two geometric shapes, a square and a rectangle. The rectangle shape in the building starts at the ground floor up to the 40th floor. The triangle shape extends to the top of the tower. At the top of the tower, a crown completes the design. It is expected the crown will hold the tower's company logo.

Menara Maxis

Menara Maxis is the headquarters of Maxis Communications, one of Malaysia's largest telecommunication companies.

Suria KLCC

Suria KLCC is currently the only and main commercial centre in the KLCC area. The shopping mall occupies space underneath the Petronas Twin Towers and shares its parking lot with it. The six-story shopping mall has been extended to Menara Carigali since 2011. There are plans to extend the mall to Lot K and also Lot D1 as well.

The mall is accessible by KLCC LRT station. It also serve as one of the bus hubs for Bandar Buses of RapidKL. The mall also has a tunnel link to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre which in turn connects to Bukit Bintang shopping district.

The Building Services Engineer was Flack + Kurtz who is currently part of the WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff Company.

Hotels

There are two hotels in the KLCC area. Mandarin Oriental is the main hotel which sits between Suria KLCC and Kuala Lumpur convention centre.

Traders Hotel, which is owned by Petronas and run by Shangri-La Hotels, connects directly with the convention centre. This hotel has 571 rooms.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

The KLCC area has a 1,300,000-square-foot (120,000 m²) convention centre known as the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. The total function area is around 216,000 square feet (20,100 m²). The convention centre is directly connected with the Traders Hotel. The Impiana Hotel, which is owned and operated by KLCC Properties, developer of the KLCC area, is connected via a walk bridge. In the master plan, there will be several more buildings to be built near or on convention centre area.

Binjai on the Park

Binjai on the Park is the only residential area in the project. The residential space is two 42-story buildings having an unobstructed view of the Petronas Twin Towers. It is designed by Allen Jack + Cottier (known famously as AJ+C), the Australian-based architect with regional presence in Malaysia, Vietnam and China.^[3] The residential towers is the most expensive in Malaysia with a 19,500 square feet penthouse has been sold for a record RM50 million.^[4]

Public area

At the centre of the property lies KLCC Park. The park is one of the last designs of notable Brazilian park designer Roberto Burle Marx. The park holds a jogging track, a public swimming pool, several children's playground and a man made lake complete with water fountains.

The are also has a mosque known as As Syakirin Mosque which has the capacity to hold 12,000 people. Naturally, many religious activities such as Friday prayers is conducted here.

Access

Public transport

Public transport is abundant in the area as it is being served by Kelana Jaya Line through KLCC LRT station. It is also a bus hub for RapidKL bus network, the largest public transport operator in Kuala Lumpur.

A dedicated taxi stand, which utilised the coupon system, is available at the shopping mall entrance. Patrons who do not wish to use the system has the option to walk up to taxi stand which is situated on the main road.

Road network

Although the area is bordered by 5 main roads, main road access is through Jalan Ampang, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Ampang - Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway. AKLEH access is quite unique in the sense that the highway has direct tunnel access to the area's underground parking garage will the other road access has drop off point as well as parking garage access.

KLCC also has built an underground tunnel to connect the area to Jalan Ampang directly.

Other access

The developer(PETRONAS) has spent RM100 million as part of its social contribution programme to build an elevated, air-conditioned walkway from the KLCC to Bukit Bintang.

Utility

District cooling for the entire area is provided by KLCC Cooling, which is situated in Lot 40. The cooling was done via gas-powered turbine generator. This district cooling concept is the first implementation in Malaysia.^[5]

The engineer for the District Cooling Center was Flack + Kurtz (currently part of the WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff Company). The plant was renovated and upgraded and activated in 2015. The current capacity is approximately 70,000 tons and has 180,000 ton hours of ice storage. It is a plant like no other• and is a superior example of district cooling plants.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

• KL Sentral - another mixed development master plan in Kuala Lumpur with emphasis on transportation
• Kuala Lumpur International Financial District - master plan which focus on financial institution in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur
• Warisan Merdeka - mixed development master plan which features a 100-story tower
• Mid Valley Megamall - mixed development which features a very popular shopping mall.
• Putrajaya - fully planned city at the edge of Selangor. Currently the administrative capital of Malaysia

References

External links

• Hotel Near KLCC