Our cities are now filled with high rise buildings that seem to touch the blue skies.
Skyscrapers have become a normal feature in advanced cities,
but what we are witnessing now is something much taller than just a Skyscraper.
Now, we have mega tall skyscrapers that will make the average skyscraper look like an average building.
One building that has broken the record and is set to be the world’s last mega tall skyscraper as far as skyscrapers go
is the Merdeka PNB 118. But why does it have this title, and why is it called the last of its kind? Watch this video until the end to find out.
Merdeka PNB 118
The Merdeka PNB 118 is a Skyscraper undergoing construction close to the Merdeka Stadium in the district of Japan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. C
ited just 100 meters away from the stadium, this building started drawing the reaction of the public from the moment the project was approved. Just in case you didn’t know,
the Merdeka Stadium is a historic site in the capital city of Malaysia
because it was the site where the declaration of independence was made
The stadium also holds sporting events, celebrations and concerts.
One of the most memorable events was the History World Tour held in October 1996
when the legendary Michael Jackson came to town with two concerts selling out 110,000 tickets.
Also, in recent years the stadium has hosted many other shows
featuring stars like Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber and other stars of equal international repute.
So you see, the Merdeka Stadium and its surrounding areas holds a special place in Malaysian folklore and any construction carried out in the area is always of interest to the nation. Funny enough
the Merdeka PNB 118 was not the first high rise building to be erected in the area.
There are two other buildings; the Petronas Tower and the KL Tower. However, PNB 118 is not just any tower but a taller version of modern skyscrapers.
What is Merdeka 118
Merdeka 118 is a 118 Storey building
sitting on a 2113ft property in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As of the time of its construction which commenced in August 2021, the developers plan to make it the tallest building in the country. Currently, that record goes to Petronas Tower in the region.
Upon completion, Merdeka 118 will be the second tallest in the world and will surpass the 128 Shanghai Tower in China.
For a building this tall, it will take mind boggling sums to complete but who is actually behind it?
Permodalan Nasional Berhad
The project is being funded by Permodalan Nasional Berhad at a cost of RM 5 billion Ringgit which translates to more than $1.2 billion.
The developers plan to have a hotel on the property including residential condos and a commercial space for offices.
There will also be 100 Storeys made available for rental space, which tenants can use for hotels, offices, retailing and any business enterprise you can think of.
As for the non rental space, those will consist of elevators, maintenance rooms, recreational facilities like gym rooms among other things.
Merdeka 118 will be so big that it will also have parking spaces for more than 8,500 vehicles at a time
so one can imagine just how much space the building will occupy. Cited in Petaling Hill to be precise,
the mega tall skyscraper will stand in the middle of other historical sites besides the Merdeka Stadium.
Close to it will be the Chin Woo Stadium, the school grounds of Methodist Boys School, Victoria Institution and the soon to be completed Merdeka Station.
Design
The Merdeka 118 is going to have a Diamond shaped set of facades with a glass and steel exterior.
The spire of the building is similar to the Tunku Abdul Rahman
with a raised hand chanting the historic Merdeka slogan at the independence proclamation event on the 31st of August 1957.
The building was also inspired by the national culture of the people. The brains behind the design are Robert Bird Group and Leslie E. Robertson Associates.
Also, the consultancy firm handling the project is Neapoli Group and the developers hope to add a green feature to the structure to make it carbon neutral.
History of the project
Back on November 23, 2015, PNB released a statement saying that it had awarded the project to a South Korean joint venture called UEM Group and Samsung C&T. T
wo years later, by November 9, 2017 to be precise, an additional RM 2 Billion Ringgit was added to the RM 3.4 billion to fund the green design and initiative designed for the structure to cover a 15 year period.
The project was funded partly by a sukuk loan with ASEAN Green Bond Standards being one of the first adopters of the loan.
By the start of 2018, PNB announced that Hyatt Park will open one of its hotels in the building once completed and the hotel will occupy 17 of the floors
and will have 30 apartments, 28 suites and 232 units.
Although construction started not long after the project was announced, construction stopped in March 2020 due to the Movement Control Order imposed by the authorities t
o check the spread of the Covid virus in the country. However, work recommenced in mid May
and by August, the concrete core had reached 118 floors.
Then on the 25th of October 2020, the president of PNB, Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn released a statement stating that the building was scheduled to be completed by 2022
rather than the earlier scheduled date of 2021 due to the delays caused by the pandemic.
The 2022 date is now the new completion date for phase 1 and 2 of the project
while the Phase 3 part of the project will be completed by 2024 or 2025.
As of the time of making this video, the construction is in its first phase with an 81% completion rate.
False facades have already been installed with more than 50% of the retail podium already completed.
Criticisms
Despite the record it will set in the South East Asian region, Merdeka 118 has attracted criticisms from a section of the public with many calling it a wasteful expenditure.
For a country still dealing with the challenges of an imperfect healthcare and educational system, spending so much on a building makes little sense.
At the height of the criticism, the then Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak defended the project by pointing out the economic opportunities it will bring to the country.
With thousands of people currently employed for its construction and thousands to be employed as permanent staff once the building opens up for business,
the government believes that Merdeka 118 is not just a luxury but an economic necessity to spur economic growth.
Transportation
Merdeka 118 will be serviced by the Merdeka MRT Station and Kajang Line located in Jalan Hang Jebat which connects to the Ampang Sri interchange. F
or those looking to access it by metro, the Sungai Buloh Kajang Line is the best way to do so away.
and from the MRT station, the building is just a walking distance
What is the height of the Merdeka 118
The general belief is that once completed, the building will reach 2152ft above ground.
As for the crown of the building, it will be about 570ft above sea level
while the highest occupied floor will be 485ft above ground
Why is Merdeka 118 called the last Mega Tall Skyscraper
Merdeka 118 is called the world’s last mega tall Skyscraper because these types of buildings are fast going out of fashion for several reasons. F
irstly, the cost of constructing them is high which may not offer investors that much return on their investment.
Secondly, they distort the skyline, casting shadows over a wide area and preventing the sun from covering the section they cover.
More importantly, new data has shown that many of these buildings are not as green as their developers will have the public believe.
In fact they contribute even more carbon footprint to the ecosystem than earlier believed.
And in a world that is so desperate to go green, mega tall skyscrapers are the last thing ecologists and environmental experts will encourage.
For the most part, the design technology for constructing these buildings comes from the US
but even the US have stopped building Mega Tall Skyscrapers in recent years because they don’t see the wisdom in doing so.
So from the look of things Merdeka 118 may actually be the last Mega Tall Skyscraper
that will be built this decade or in decades to come unless developers can find ingenious ways to address the concerns raised by environmentalists.
For what it's worth, it will hold the record as the second tallest building in the world once completed, and that record should be a thing of national pride for Malaysians.
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