What are building design variables?
452mPetronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur
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.
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
CASE STUDY 2 - JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Twin Tower, Dubai
Marriott International opened its new five-star hotel, JW Marriott Marquis, in Dubai in February 2013. Designed by Archgroup Consultants, the 72-storey building is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest hotel in the world at 355m.
Marriott International opened its new five-star hotel, JW Marriott Marquis, in Dubai in February 2013. Designed by Archgroup Consultants, the 72-storey building is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest hotel in the world at 355m.
JW Marriott Marquis, which is the 59th hotel under the Marriott International brand and the first opened outside North America, is owned by the Emirates Group and was built with an investment of $490m.
The tallest hotel in the world
"The hotel includes two towers with 72 storeys occupying a total area of 3.75 million square feet."
JW Marriott Marquis hotel design
JW Marriott Marquis is situated in the Business Bay district in Dubai, a prime location that is close to the Dubai World Trade Centre, the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, and Dubai International Airport.
The hotel includes two towers with 72 storeys occupying a total area of 3.75 million square feet. It features postmodern architectural style with the design of the two towers inspired by the trunk of a date palm tree.
The two towers are placed on a seven-storey podium, which includes all the public areas of the hotel, such as restaurants and the banquet hall. The terrace of the podium features swimming pools and a lawn.
Construction of Marriott International’s new hotel
Construction on the hotel started in February 2008 and the first tower was completed in January 2012, while the second was opened in April 2014.
The two towers are supported by a single 3.9m-thick raft erected on 1.2m diameter piles. Each tower features an oval-shaped central core with stability provided by internal lift and staircase walls. The podium is supported by 1.6m x 2.5m reinforced concrete columns. The slabs of the podium are supported by post-tensioned beams.
Facade of the tallest hotel building in the world
The hotel’s 134,000m² facade is covered with glass and aluminium. The glass used on the facade is a combination of high-performance glass and solar-control glass with double glazing.
Saint-Gobain Glass India supplied the high-performance glass brands, Nano and COOL-LITE, for the building. The Nano glass is used as vision glass and COOL-LITE is used for the exterior walls of the building.
The high-performance glasses effectively guard against the outside heat and help to maintain the temperature within the hotel. The Nano glass has a light transmission capacity of 35% and low internal reflection. The glass, therefore, allows the right amount of light into the building, while also providing beautiful views of the exteriors.
Facilities offered at Dubai’s new hotel
The first tower has 684 rooms and 120 suites and the second tower has 804 suites and rooms in addition to a lounge, which will be opened through the year, adding up to a total of 1,608 rooms and suites. The second tower also features a two tier function space in the 72nd floor.
Identifying a gap in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) market, the hotel has incorporated a large event space. The hotel features 8,500m² of indoor and outdoor space, which includes two ballrooms, 24 meeting rooms and outdoor terraces. The event space can accommodate around 1,000 people.
The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai features a number of restaurants, including steakhouse Prime 68, Japanese restaurant Izakaya, Indian Rang Mahal by Atul Kochha, Thailand-themed Tong Thai, and Kitchen 6, which offers all day dining, buffets and living cooking stations.
The hotel also features a number of bars, including the Vault on the 71st and 72nd floors, which offers stunning views of the city and features a private cigar room, wine bar Kork, coffee house and bakery La Farine and the Aqua Poolside Grill and Bar.
The hotel also features a 4,000m² Saray Spa and Health Club, offering a range of spa treatments. A fully equipped fitness centre and outdoor pool are also available to guests.
Contractors
Brookfield Multiplex was the main contractor for the project. Other contractors included LW Design Group (interior design), Kardoff (lighting), Finex (spa design), Green Scapes Landscape (landscaping), MFT (façade), BG&E, MEPS, Thyssenkrupp, Al Mansoor Contracting and All Bright Electrical.
COMPARISONS
Both the highrise building being a twin towers but differs in a lot way of building design variables. Thus affected the construction cost of both building. Being it the number of floors and heights or even the foundations construction.
Presumably, the year of construction date also play a main role in affecting the cost as the latter the year, more modern and cheapest way of constructing a building will develop and helps in reducing the cost while the impose of technologies in construction were also a big help in these recent years.
