SHOWCASE 38

Exchange 10 6
– Changing
The KL
Skyline
SHOWCASE 39

Exchange 106, Kuala Lumpur’s newest

iconic building, is the centrepiece of
the Financial Quarter and the focal
point of the 70 -acre Tun Razak
Exchange (TRX) master plan. Standing
tall at 453.46m with 106 floors, it is at
par with the likes of CITIC Tower,
B e i j i n g , S h a n g h a i Towe r, a n d
Salesforce Tower, San Francisco. As
the recipient of an Award of Excellence
for ‘Best Tall Building 400 meters and
above’ by the Council on Tall Buildings
and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Exchange
106 is one of the most technically tall
buildings in the world.

Located at the edge of a 10-acre park

in the centre of TRX, the iconic tower Main Lobby

is Indonesia-based Mulia Group’s first

foray into Malaysia. “When we came
Group is building for the future, 3-dimensional shape of the tower,
to Malaysia, we decided that we were
technological advances over the next gradually tapering to the top, is an
not going to build just another
decade or two will render the extrusion of the designed rational plan,
building. There are many beautiful
hardware ‘normal’. “Hence, we also a s i m p l e a n d e l e g a n t fo r m
buildings in Malaysia, in particular,
invest heavily in the software. This complimenting the park setting.
the Petronas Twin Towers. Whatever,
includes the Building Management
we did, we were never going to
systems, security systems, carpark It is also an ideal shape for its function
compete with that. So we took it to a
sys te m s o r l i f t co nt ro l s , a n d as a financial and commercial centre.
d i f fe re n t d i re c t i o n ,” s a y s A l i
importantly, in the people that add The column-free and long spans are
Moghaddasi, Chief Development
the heart and soul to the building.” designed for flexible layouts and
Officer, Mulia Group Architects.
open-plan interior configurations. The
“Exchange 106 will never be just planned rotation of the tower will
By this, he meant looking at all the
another beautiful building. It will be provide ample distance with adjacent
requirements from the authorities and
about the Front Desk greeting and towers and 360-degree views for more
meeting special qualifications like
assisting visitors, the Auxiliary Police than 70% of the floors. The tower was
MSC status, GBI and LEED. “We
helping a visitor find their way around designed on an axis that is diagonal
satisfied those and went a bit further.
the car park, the housekeeper smilingly to the configuration of the CBD
Whether it was to provide a higher
ensuring that the washroom is never orthogonal grid. “This will emphasise
grade marble flooring, high
less than sparkling, and the technicians and set the building apart from the
performance insulated glass, turnstile
working through the night to ensure rest of the master plan for a unique
access control or a camera-based car
zero downtime. That will be the and special place in the Kuala Lumpur
park guidance system, we look for
singular difference that Mulia Group skyline,” explains Moghaddasi.
that extra, and we went there. We
brings to the commercial office market
decided we needed to be
in KL,” concurs Patrick Honan, General The tower’s distinctive-looking crown
extraordinary and set benchmarks
Manager, Mulia Property Development makes it highly recognisable within
that will have occupiers demand the
Sdn Bhd. KL’s city skyline. The crown is made
same level of quality from other
of double-layered laminated low-iron
buildings.” He admits that while Mulia
Design & Form clear and colourless glass panels
Exchange 106 is envisioned to be with satin-finished stainless steel
simple, rational, and timeless. framing in an elegant and cultured
Moghaddasi explains that the plan of diamond pattern. Enhancing the
the tower is comprised of a square, glass is a sophisticated interlayer
representing equality, and a circle, fabric with metallic coating on the
representing strength, the very outer face customised for and unique
essence of Islamic architecture. The to Exchange 106. Together with the
SHOWCASE 40

Crown

triangulated and folded configuration, features embody the “going further”

the crown reflects and becomes a philosophy that Mulia implements.
In total, it took 835 part of the sky. Inside the crown is
days and 20 million the Lantern, which provides a “It is not just the grandeur of the
constant glow at night, the colours building; it is an intuitive feel that one
man hours to of which change to reflect the doesn’t just see. The spaces may
complete the Malaysian currency. inspire a sense of wonder, but this
superstructure soon settles into a comfortable
First-time visitors will marvel at the feeling of ‘right’ and ‘belonging’,”
construction portion Moghaddasi elaborates.
triple volume lobbies, book-matched
of the project. The full marble cladding wall with polished
Certificate of marble imported from Italy and Exchange 106 boasts of a variety of
Turkey, as well as the fantastic amenities that include two retail and
Completion and
360-degree views. F&B floors, a 5-star hotel drop-off and
Compliance (CCC) triple volume main lobby, banking hall,
was issued on 23 “However, once they get past that sky lobby at level 57, and 2,200 parking
initial awe, they will see that it all bays over six basement parking levels
December 2019.
makes sense,” he says. From the centre and two VIP levels. The building will
core service corridor where occupants also be linked to the TRX MRT
access all common area services Underground Station and the
without going through narrow upcoming Sungai Buloh-Serdang-
passages, the acoustically treated Putrajaya Line.
ceiling boards to the wudhu facilities
at every shared washroom, all of these
SHOWCASE 41

Lift lobby

Construction
The design work commenced on Q2
2015, and the mat foundation was
poured on 1 May 2016. “In total, it took
835 days and 20 million man hours to
c o m p l e t e t h e s u p e r s t r u c t u re
construction portion of the project.
The full Certificate of Completion and
Compliance (CCC) was issued on 23
December 2019,” says Roland Suckling,
Project Director, Mulia Property
Development Sdn Bhd, who managed
the entire construction process from
procurement to site coordination.

According to Suckling, the critical

factors to the project’s success were
good time management and efficiency.
“This was achieved by deploying
heavier loading tower cranes, the 60-
hour mat foundation pour, managing
flying landing platforms, fixed loading
hours and such,” he explains.

“Our 40-year history ensured that the

challenges were few and far between.
The Mulia Group operates very
uniquely as everything from the
inception to operation is done in-
house,” adds Suckling.

As Honan succinctly says, Exchange

106 is well on its way to carve a lane for
itself rather than set a benchmark that
can be reset by the next iconic building.

Light forest installation

Project Details:
Project Management: Mulia
Property Development Sdn Bhd
Client: Mulia Group
Architect (Design): MGA
International
Structural Engineer (Design):
Louie International (USA) & EDP
Consulting Group Sdn. Bhd.
Super Structure Contractor:
China State Construction
Engineering Corporation