Petronas Twin Towers
Identical 88-story buildings – the tallest twin towers in the world - which culminate in stainless steel pinnacles.
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Project Details
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 2004
New York Association of Consulting Engineers Awards, Award for Engineering Excellence, 1997
Structural Design Fused with Cultural Heritage
Rising 452 meters above Kuala Lumpur, Petronas Twin Towers are identical 88-story buildings – the tallest twin towers in the world - which culminate in stainless steel pinnacles. The dramatic Islamic-themed towers feature a sky bridge at floors 41 and 42 that connects the towers and creates a visual gateway to a major public park. The towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004.
We provided structural design service to Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Adamson Associates for the towers, which was completed in 1998.
Thana Gu/Unsplash
Highlights
- We engineered the sky bridge with slender structural members rather than heavy trusses to be compatible with the building’s architecture.
- The preassembled bridge was lifted into place and joined to each tower more than 150 meters above street level.
- A pair of steel tubes support the 58-meter sky bridge. The tubes connect to rotating bearings on the 29th floor of each building to allow for independent tower movements caused by wind loads.
- The complex also includes a seven-story retail facility, an acoustically isolated 864-seat concert hall and a 5,143-car underground garage. We provided structural design for these components.
- The towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 when it was surpassed by Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Thornton Tomasetti also provided structural design for that supertall tower.
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