Facts About Petronas Towers

Petronas Towers, also known as Petronas Twin Towers, are twin buildings situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the site of city’s race track. Of the two building, the one named Tower 1 was built by Hazama Corporation, while the other, known as Tower 2, was constructed by Samsung Engineering & Construction. The construction work on Petronas Towers was completed in 1998 and they were opened in August 1999. At the time of their completion, the twin buildings were the tallest buildings in the world and continued to be so till 2004. The interior design of the towers depicts the influence of Malaysian culture. Carvings and use of fabric designs which are characteristic of the culture are quite evident. An interesting fact is that the effort that went into the building of these towers, turned out to be global. The architect was an Argentinian; the consultants were from Canada, the structural design engineers were from New York and lastly two consortiums were hired one from Japan and the other from South Korea .In case you want to know more about the Petronas Twin Towers, make use of the fun and interesting facts provided below. 

 

Fast Facts

Location: Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Area: 4,252,000 sq. ft.

Built in: 1 August 1999

Built by: KLCC Holdings

Highlight: Tallest building in the world from 1998 to 2004

 

Interesting & Fun Facts About Petronas Towers

• Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, when Taipei 101 took over the title.
• Petronas Towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world.
• There are 88 stories in Petronas Twin Towers.
• Petronas Towers were designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli.
• The foundation of Petronas Twin Towers is as much as 120 m deep and was built by Bachy Soletanche.
• Reinforced Concrete is the main material used in the construction of Petronas Towers.
• Petronas Twin Towers make use of glass facade that was designed to resemble Islamic art motifs.
• The overall height of Petronas Towers is 451.9m (1483ft), from street level.
• Petronas Twin Towers measure 378m (1240ft) high, without the pinnacle.
• Petronas Towers spread over an area or around 341,760 sq. m. (3.7 million sq. ft.).
• The sky-bridge of Petronas Twin Towers is at 41st and 42nd level and is 58.4m (192ft) long. It weighs 750 tons.
• There are 10 escalators in each building of Petronas Towers.
• The entry to Petronas Towers is free, but only a limited number of timed tickets are provided on a daily basis.
• Petronas Twin Towers have 32,000 windows.
• It cost US $1.2 billion to build Petronas Towers.
• Petronas Twin Towers also include an art gallery, an 840-seat concert hall, and an underground parking lot.
• The main occupant of the Petronas Towers is Petronas, the national oil-company of Malaysia.
• Below Petronas Twin Towers is a shopping mall, Suria KLCC, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Accenture, Al Jazeera English, Carigali Hess Bloomberg, Boeing, IBM, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, McKinsey & Co, TCS, Krawler Networks, Microsoft, and Reuters are some of the companies that have rented offices in the Petronas Towers.
• There is a service building located to the east of the Petronas Twin Towers. It contains services required to keep the building operational.
• Alain "Spiderman" Robert, a French urban climber, tried to climb the Petronas Towers on 20th March 1997, with his bare hands and feet. He reached the 60th floor, where he was arrested by the police. He again tried the feat, this time on the other building, on 20th March 2007. This time also, he managed to reach only 60th floor and was arrested by the police.
• The construction of the tower was over in 1998, but it was inaugurated on 1 August 1999.
• The Sky-bridge, which connects the towers, remains closed on Mondays.
• The sky-bridge is the highest two story bridge in the world.
• Access to visitors is only till the 41st level as the floors above it are occupied by tenants. 

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