A visit to Kuala Lumpur would simply be incomplete without gaping at the Petronas Twin Towers. Being one of the most iconic and recognizable landmarks in the world, people travel for miles to see it. The structure may be impressive but stories behind the building makes it so much more interesting. Here are interesting facts about the Petronas Twin Towers that you might not know.
Once Upon a Time
The Petronas Twin Towers was declared by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats as the world's tallest building in 1998. It held the title for 6 years until 2004 when Taipei 101 took the top spot. It is expected that by the year 2020, the once tallest building will be ranked at 20th place. However, at the present, Petronas remains the tallest twin towers in the world.
Pushed for Height
The building was originally planned to top off at 427 meters tall, not meant to be the tallest. As it was going to be only 16 meters shorter than the Sears Tower, the builders recalculated some structural aspects. The designers did not add new floors but added a small dome with an integrated pinnacle on top of the building pushing its final height to 451.9 meters.
Race to the Top
Interestingly, the construction of the two towers were awarded to two different contractors from two different countries. Japan-based Hazama Corporation led the group for Tower One while Korean-based Samsung Engineering and Construction led the team for Tower Two and the Skybridge. When the construction was underway, there was a sense of competition to see which group will finish first. Although the Korean team started a month later, they finished first with both Tower Two and the Skybridge.
A Behemoth
Petronas is 88 storeys high with floors constructed largely of reinforced concrete instead of the conventional steel framework. This decision was made to cut the cost in half. However, this also doubled the weight of the building. Each of the tower is 300,000 tons or equivalent to the weight of 42,857 adult elephants.
Lift Up
As with other very tall towers, moving people up and down was a major consideration for Petronas Towers. Each of the towers has 10 escalators, 1,765 flights of stairs, 29 double-decker high speed elevators, 6 heavy duty service elevators, and 4 executive lifts. The executive lifts can serve the basement to the top floor in 90 seconds.
Scene Stealer
The Petronas Twin Towers gained worldwide exposure as a backdrop in the Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones film, Entrapment. It has also been a venue to many death defying stunts like the record breaking BASE jump of Felix Baumgartner and free scaling of the French Spiderman, Alain Robert.
A Nation's Symbol
As Malaysia is dominantly Muslim, the design of the Petronas is based on simple Islamic geometric forms of two interlocking squares creating the shape of eight-pointed stars. These describe important Islamic principles of unity within unity, harmony, stability and rationality. The logo of the Petronas Twin Towers is depicted based on the building's outline, which resembles the letter "M" for Malaysia.
The Petronas Twin Towers was envisioned to be the symbol of Malaysia's advancement into the world stage. And it has successfully done so. Now that you know, all that's left for you is to go visit the building in person.
Also read: Kuala Lumpur: A Travel Guide for First Timers
The Petronas Twin Towers is conveniently located at Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur City Center. For more information, visit their website here.
Do you have other interesting facts about the Petronas Twin Towers, please share them in comments section below.
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| The stunning Petronas Twin Towers |
The Petronas Twin Towers was declared by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats as the world's tallest building in 1998. It held the title for 6 years until 2004 when Taipei 101 took the top spot. It is expected that by the year 2020, the once tallest building will be ranked at 20th place. However, at the present, Petronas remains the tallest twin towers in the world.
Pushed for Height
The building was originally planned to top off at 427 meters tall, not meant to be the tallest. As it was going to be only 16 meters shorter than the Sears Tower, the builders recalculated some structural aspects. The designers did not add new floors but added a small dome with an integrated pinnacle on top of the building pushing its final height to 451.9 meters.
Race to the Top
Interestingly, the construction of the two towers were awarded to two different contractors from two different countries. Japan-based Hazama Corporation led the group for Tower One while Korean-based Samsung Engineering and Construction led the team for Tower Two and the Skybridge. When the construction was underway, there was a sense of competition to see which group will finish first. Although the Korean team started a month later, they finished first with both Tower Two and the Skybridge.
A Behemoth
Petronas is 88 storeys high with floors constructed largely of reinforced concrete instead of the conventional steel framework. This decision was made to cut the cost in half. However, this also doubled the weight of the building. Each of the tower is 300,000 tons or equivalent to the weight of 42,857 adult elephants.
Lift Up
As with other very tall towers, moving people up and down was a major consideration for Petronas Towers. Each of the towers has 10 escalators, 1,765 flights of stairs, 29 double-decker high speed elevators, 6 heavy duty service elevators, and 4 executive lifts. The executive lifts can serve the basement to the top floor in 90 seconds.
Scene Stealer
The Petronas Twin Towers gained worldwide exposure as a backdrop in the Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones film, Entrapment. It has also been a venue to many death defying stunts like the record breaking BASE jump of Felix Baumgartner and free scaling of the French Spiderman, Alain Robert.
A Nation's Symbol
As Malaysia is dominantly Muslim, the design of the Petronas is based on simple Islamic geometric forms of two interlocking squares creating the shape of eight-pointed stars. These describe important Islamic principles of unity within unity, harmony, stability and rationality. The logo of the Petronas Twin Towers is depicted based on the building's outline, which resembles the letter "M" for Malaysia.
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| The Petronas Towers from another angle |
Also read: Kuala Lumpur: A Travel Guide for First Timers
The Petronas Twin Towers is conveniently located at Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur City Center. For more information, visit their website here.
Do you have other interesting facts about the Petronas Twin Towers, please share them in comments section below.
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