Petronas Twin Towers

페트로나스 트윈 타워

The Petronas Towers are two skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, joined near the middle by a sky bridge. Each has 88 floors and stands about 452 metres tall. From 1998 to 2004 they were the tallest buildings in the world, and they are still the tallest twin towers. The towers' structure is a tube-in-tube design invented by the engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan.

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At a glance

Country: Malaysia
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Built: 1998
Height: 452 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is Petronas Twin Towers?

Petronas Twin Towers is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

When was Petronas Twin Towers built?

Petronas Twin Towers was built in 1998.

How tall is Petronas Twin Towers?

Petronas Twin Towers is about 452 m tall.

Twin skyscrapers joined by a sky bridge, still the tallest twin towers in the world.

César Pelli designed them, and their steel-and-glass skin uses patterns inspired by Islamic art. The towers are the symbol of modern Malaysia and can be seen from many places across the city. At their foot are Suria KLCC, a big shopping centre with about 300 stores, and KLCC Park, 6.9 hectares of gardens.

How were they built?

Construction began in 1993 on the old Selangor Turf Club site. The ground turned out to be half soft rock and half crumbling limestone, so the whole building was shifted about 61 metres to sit on solid rock. Even so, 104 concrete piles were drilled 60 to 114 metres deep, giving the towers some of the deepest foundations in the world.

Why do they look like that?

The floor plan is based on an eight-pointed star shape found in Islamic geometry, with round sections added to make room for offices. The towers are mostly reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass outside. The structure is a 'tube in tube' design, an idea by the engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, which helps tall buildings stand firm against wind.

A race to finish in six years

The Malaysian government asked for the towers to be finished in six years, so two building teams were hired, one for each tower. Tower 1 was built by a Japanese group led by the Hazama company. Korean Wikipedia says Korean and Japanese builders competed to finish first. Early on a batch of concrete failed a strength test and work stopped; only one floor had used the bad batch, and it was torn down. Steel was costly to import, so the builders chose very strong concrete instead, which is twice as good at stopping sway but makes the towers twice as heavy on their foundations. The sky bridge links the towers at the 45th floor.

Fun facts

They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004.
Taipei 101 took over the 'tallest building' title in 2004, but the Petronas Towers remain the tallest twin towers.
The concrete base of each tower was poured without stopping for 54 hours.
The towers were opened officially on 31 August 1999.
In 1999 Felix Baumgartner made a world-record BASE jump from a crane on the Petronas Towers.
In 2009 the French climber Alain Robert scaled Tower Two with his bare hands in under two hours.