Petronas Towers - Comparison With Other Towers

Comparison With Other Towers

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world for six years, until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers is measured to the top of their structural components such as spires, but do not include antennas. Spires are considered actual integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

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 75.41 m (247.4 ft) taller than those of the Petronas Towers, however, in accordance with CTBUH regulations and guidelines, the antennas of Willis Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features. 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 (33 ft) even though the roof of Petronas Towers at 378.6 metres (1,242 ft) is 63.4 m (208 ft) lower than the roof of Willis Tower at 442 metres (1,450 ft).

Other buildings have used spires to increase their height but have always been taller overall to the pinnacle when trying to claim the title. In the aftermath of the controversy, the rules governing official titles were partially overhauled, and a number of buildings re-classified structural antenna as architectural details to boost their height rating even though nothing was actually done to the building.

The Petronas Towers feature a diamond-faceted facade consisting of 83,500 square metres (899,000 sq ft) of stainless steel extrusions. In addition, a 33,000-panel curtain wall cladding system resides within the towers. While the stainless steel element of the towers entices the illustrious sun, highlighting the magnificent towers, they are composed of 55,000 square metres (590,000 sq ft) of 20.38-millimetre (0.802 in) laminated glass to reduce heat by reflecting harmful UV rays.

On the top of each tower is a pinnacle standing 73.5 metres (241 ft) tall. The pinnacles were more than just the finishing touches to the height of the towers, each taking over 19 weeks to construct and both being assembled outside the country. One was constructed in Japan and the other in Korea. Each pinnacle is composed of 50 unique parts making up the main components: the spire, mast ball and ring ball. Together these parts weigh 176 tons. While the pinnacles may seem to be an aesthetic feature of the towers to enhance their presence and height, they also play function to aircraft warning lights and are an essential element to the overall Islamic minaret design that the towers embody.

The interiors of the towers highlight the Malaysian cultural inspiration to the design through traditional aspects such as fabric and carvings typical of the culture, specifically evident in the foyer of the entrance halls in the towers.

The construction of the Petronas Towers turned out to be a multinational effort. The structural design engineers worked out of New York City, while the wind-tunnel consultants and elevator design engineers were from Canada. In order to meet local safety construction codes, the towers had to be able to withstand 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) winds. In order to assure this requirement would be fulfilled the engineers tested the towers twice within a wind tunnel, first by computer simulation and second by building an actual model of the towers.

The inspiration of architect César Pelli is rooted in the tradition of the culture and the Islamic symbols including the geometric eight-pointed star floor design, the inspiration is mainly from Malaysia’s own ambition and aspiration. As evident in Pelli hoping the skybridge would symbolize a gateway to the future.