6/21/2021 Design & Structure | The Towers | PETRONAS Twin Towers

PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS

DE SIGN & S TRUCTURE

H O M E  /  D E S I G N & S T R U C T U R E

WORLD'S TALLEST TWIN BUILDING

The twin towers were originally proposed to be built at a height of only 1400 feet (427m). Thankfully, Dr Mahathir saw greater
potential in the building as the world's tallest structures, and pressed architects and engineers to include a few more meters in
height, in every way possible. To meet his ambitions, many structural facts were recalculated and retested in wind tunnels. This
has resulted in the addition of a dome with an integrated pinnacle atop of the towers - successfully reaching 1483 feet (452m)
tall, surpassing the Sears Tower in the USA.

451.8m 355m 354m 335m

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai Emirates Tower, Dubai Huaguoyan Towers, Guiyang
Lumpur

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301m 270m 265m 262m

City of Capitals, Moscow The Cullinan, Hong Kong Al Kazim Towers, Dubai Grand Gateway, Shanghai

DESIGN
The interior motifs are designed to resemble Malaysia’s local handicrafts and weaving patterns, with a stunning combination of stainless
steel and glass finishing on the building to form beautiful Islamic patterns. The design of each tower floor plate is based on simple
Islamic geometric forms of two interlocking squares, creating a shape of an eight-pointed star. Architecturally, these forms represent the
important Islamic principles of unity, harmony, stability and rationality.

Islamic Patterns ; Rub El

Hizb

The towers were designed by a renowned Argentine

architect - César Pelli. The first design fell just a bit
short of The 4th & 7th Prime Minister Mahathir's
satisfaction, as he felt that there was more room to
insert something uniquely Malaysian in the design. He
wanted a building that would be identifiably
Malaysian, was of world class standard, and which
Malaysians will inevitably be proud of. Through a
series of edits, eventually, the The 4th & 7th Prime
Minister understood what he wanted the towers to
resemble; an eight-pointed star (when seen from the
top), which represents unity, harmony, stability, and
rationality in the Islamic cultures.

One concern Pelli had for the new design is the limited floor space. To overcome this concern, he added
semicircles to each of the inner angles. Each tower now has a total of 43,600 square yards (36,455 m2) of floor
space, including an additional circular annex referred to as ‘bustle’, standing 44 stories high.

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STRUCTURE
Both towers are 'intelligent' structures, built with a system that seamlessly and simultaneously coordinates
telecommunications, environment control, power supply, lighting, fire and smoke control, and building security.

88-Storeys
Each tower is 88 storeys high with 5 underground levels for car park and mechanical services.

452 Meters
Each tower measures 452m in height - from ground to tip which - and is the equivalent of 1,483 ft.

600k Tonnes
Each tower weighs 300,000 tonnes which is equivalent to about 42,857 adult elephants.

395,000 sqm
The towers have 395,000m² build-up area, with 213,750m² free space for use and 186,000m² annexes.

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CONSTRUCTION
The construction of PETRONAS Twin Towers took 6
years and costed the country a fortune of over RM 6
billion (USD $1.6 billion) to complete. Built with
899,000 ft² of stainless-steel extrusions, the building
was surprisingly void of heat and UV rays, thanks to
the addition of 590,000 ft² of lamination glass over the
surface of the skyscraper which would require 2 whole
months just to clean each and every single glass
panel!

6 Years
Took 6 years of construction from foundation until
opening

USD $1.6 billion

Costed USD $1.6 billion to erect both towers

WORLD'S LARGEST
FOUNDATION
Skyscrapers need strong, deep foundations that
penetrate into the ground below. Given the
tremendous height of the towers, the PETRONAS Twin
Towers have a ground-breaking 120 meters (approx.
400 ft.) of solid foundation underneath its dense
concrete footings.

12 Months
Foundations were completed within 12 months by
Bachy Soletanche

120 Meters
120 m (400 ft) deep under the ground

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Elevators
PETRONAS Twin Towers include 29 double-decker
high-speed passenger lifts, six heavy-duty service lifts
and four executive lifts. Each passenger deck can
carry up to 52 people total, while the executive lifts
can carry about ten. The speeds of these elevators
vary is between 3.5m/s and 6.0 m/s, depending on the
zones they are servicing.
Interior
The designs and patterns that line the entrance halls'
foyer reflect Malaysia’s traditional handicrafts and
'songket', or weaving. The wall panels and screens
are also inspired by hardwood carvings from the East
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Exterior
Each Tower is set back five times in its ascent to
maintain the vertical axis and tapering of the design.
The walls of the uppermost floors are also sloped
inward to taper and meet the pinnacle. Vision Glass,
specialised panels with light filtering and noise
reduction properties, provide a comfortable inner
environment. The glass is covered by stainless steel
visors to further protect visitors from the tropical sun.
Pinnacles
These structures house aircraft warning lights and
external maintenance building equipment. Each
pinnacle features a spire with 23 segments, and a ring
ball comprised of 14 rings of varying diameters.
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Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The floor designs are

based on intricate motifs of 'pandan' weavings and
'bertam' palm wall mattings.

OBSERVATION
DECK
The observation decks in Petronas Twin Towers are
located at Level 86 of both towers. The deck allows
visitors to enjoy the a spectacular view of the
cityscape from above 370 meters. Visitors will also get
to discover the history of the twin towers in detail
through digital displays and exhibition.

86th Floor
Located on 86th floor, the second highest level of the
twin towers.

370 Meters
Superior bird’s-eye view from 370 meters above the
ground.

SKY BRIDGE
Weighing 750 tons, the double-decker skybridge acts
as the connector between the two towers on the Level
41 and 42. Interestingly, the skybridge is not fully
attached to the main building - engineers deliberately
designed the skybridge this way to give allowance for
small movements during high winds and other
unpleasant weathers. This prevents the bridge from
breaking away from the towers. The bridge measures
170m (558 ft) above the ground and 58.4m (192 ft)
long.

58.4 Meters
58.4 m (192 ft) long

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170 Meters
170 m (558 ft) high above the ground

MORE ABOUT PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS

THE STORIES

ADMISSION & TICKETING

FACILITIES & ACCESSIBILITY

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