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| Twin Tower at night... |
'' The Petronas Towers (also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC) are skyscrapers and twin towers in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 until surpassed by Taipei 101, but remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.[5]The building is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower. ''
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| comparison with the other towers |
Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the World Trade Center towers were each constructed with 110 occupied floors – 22 more than the 88 floors of the Petronas Towers. Willis Tower’s tallest antenna is 247.4 ft taller than those of the Petronas Towers, however, in accordance to CTBUH regulations and guidelines,[8] the antennas of Willis Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features.[9] The spires on the Petronas Towers are included in the height since they are not antenna masts. Therefore, the Petronas Towers exceed the official height of Willis Tower by 10 m.
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| the head of twin tower... |
History
Designed by Argentine architects César Pelli and Djay Cerico under the consultancy of Julius Gold and Filipino engineer Domingo Basa, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after a seven year build and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion.[10]They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track.[11] Because of the depth of thebedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations.[12] The 120-meter foundations were built within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete.[13] Its engineering designs on structural framework were contributed by Haitian engineer Domo Obiasse and colleagues Aris Battista and Princess D Battista.
The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found inIslamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion.[14] Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements.[15] Tower 1 was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation while Tower 2 was built by Samsung C&T and Kukdong Engineering & Construction, both South Korean contractors.[citation needed] The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. Thus, Tower 2 became the first to reach the world's tallest building at the time.
Skybridge
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| A skybridge connects the two towers... |
The towers feature a skybridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world.[22] It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds.[23] The bridge is 170 m (558 ft) above the ground and 58 m (190 ft) long, weighing 750 tons.[24] The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors desiring to go to higher levels have to change elevators here. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but tickets are limited to 1700 people per day, and must be obtained for free on a first-come, first-served basis.[25] Visitors are only allowed on the 41st floor as the 42nd floor can only be used by the tenants of the building.[26]
The skybridge also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower.[27] The total evacuation triggered by a bomb hoax on September 12, 2001 (the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City) showed that the bridge would not be useful if both towers need to be emptied simultaneously, as the capacity of the staircases was insufficient for such an event.[28] Plans thus call for the lifts to be used if both towers need to be evacuated, and a successful drill following the revised plan was conducted in 2005.
