Maritime Square Penang

It is not the tallest building in the world nor is it cladded with expensive materials. However, its unique form makes it a building to watch out for whenever you are in Penang next time. It is the Maritime Square by IJM, located along the island’s east coast highway.

Penang has never been a favourite place for innovative skyscrapers due to its secondary place in terms of importance in the context of the entire country. It is not the commercial hub of Malaysia and hence there is not much tall office towers being located here. And that is a shame because you would normally find interesting architecture in office buildings thanks to the deep pocket and tall ego of corporate firms. Most high rise buildings in Penang are dominated by residential apartments and there is always a limit of how an architect could push so far in terms of design.

There are currently only two notable tall office buildings that come to mind when I think of Penang. The first one is obviously the 65 storey KOMTAR, the tallest building and the first skyscraper of Penang. It was designed in the modernist language with a pure cylindrical tower. It is still standing tall today and has become the beacon for George Town from as far as Kepala Batas in the mainland. The second building is the UMNO Tower designed by Ken Yeang which antenna collapsed recently and killed one person who was driving below. UMNO Tower is the first Penang’s skyscraper that got the international attention with its innovative wind channeling technology.

Now I could safely say that Penang will soon has its third architecturally unique skyscraper when the Maritime Square is completed. It consists of twin towers service suite housing 240 duplex units with a commercial podium below. Residential buildings are normally designed in a very rigid layout due to the functions that are required in its internal layout. The design of the twin towers of Maritime Square however managed to have an undulating façade with curving lines rising upwards and terminating at the top with vertical elements. The podium façade is also interesting with its dynamic form of mullions and glass panels of different sizes. The design is trendy and sculptural without having a blown out budget.

Penang island’s east coast has managed to rake in an unprecedented investment in recent years thanks to the completion of the highway and reclamation works stretching from the two Penang bridges all the way to the fringe of George Town at Weld Quay. Two of the major projects are the Penang World City (joint venture between Ivory Properties Group and Tropicana Corporation) and The Light by IJM. The Maritime Square is located between The Light and George Town, a strategic location overlooking Penang channel and Butterworth. The twin towers will no doubt add on to the ever changing skyline of Penang and become two prominent structures from the mainland.