Another iconic works by OMA although looks a bit conservative when compares to their previous works. Nevertheless, this tower enhance the skyline of Shenzhen.
Raffles City Chongqing is like Marina Bay Sands on steroid! Designed by the same architect Moshe Safdie, this futuristic mini-city drastically changes the skyline of the city of Chongqing in China.
Recent years have seen an influx of skyscrapers completed, nearing construction, or proposed in Asia. Stimulated by an exponentially growing population and, therefore, thriving economy, Asia has contributed more soaring buildings to the world’s Supertall list than any other continents combined. With the completion of the world’s tallest building at 828 meters tall, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, comes the proposition of progressively more structures which aim to surpass the prior and ascend to the number one status.
Record number of skyscrapers were completed in Asia just this last year:Burj KhalifainDubai, theInternational Commerce Centerin Hong Kong,Zifeng Tower,Guangzhou International Finance CenterinChina. Subsequent years are anticipated to be even more triumphant for skyscraper construction, seeing that the global recession caused some projects to be halted or abandoned prior to 2010.
Of the skyscrapers which are currently under construction, most will dwarf the completed towers which hold the top ten tallest building ranking, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Structures anything less than Supertall (400 meters) will become obsolete to the skyscraper genre with the ever increasing standard.
2011 and 2012 are expected to continue on this upward trend, and more skyscrapers near completion this year: Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Saudi Arabia, the Princess Tower in Dubai, Al Hamra Firdous Tower in Kuwait City, 23 Marina project in Dubai, and Emirates Park Towers Hotel & Spa in Dubai. In 2014, the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia is proposed to take the lead as the world’s tallest building, at 1 kilometer tall.
The modern tall building has drastically changed from its historical counterpart; what used to be a boastful display of a region’s wealth and prosperity in office building form is now a practical response to a dense city’s need for housing, transportation, and multi-use facilities. Asia’s, more specifically China’s, soaring population has fueled the demand for supertalls. Increasingly more skyscrapers have taken on the program of residence; Burj Khalifa, Kingdom Tower, and India Tower, just to name a few.
A number of American architectural firms have been accommodating Asia’s need for skyscrapers, of the top 10 skyscrapers under construction, 6 were designed by U.S. Architectural Firms. With reference to projects discussed, Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), Fosters + Partners, and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill have benefited from Asia’s skyscraper craze. The skyscraper is, undeniably, the architectural symbol of the future and upward trend of Asian architecture further declare the region’s worldwide significance and prominence.
GEORGE TOWN: IJM Land Bhd will restart work on the stalled RM4.5bil The Light City project, which is located next to the Penang Bridge, in August.
IJM Perennial Development Sdn Bhd general manager Tan Hun Beng said the construction work was supposed to start in April.
IJM Perennial is a joint-venture company betweenIJM Corp Bhd and Singapore-based Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd to oversee the project.
“But because of the movement control order (MCO), we have to postpone it to August, ” Tan added.
According to Tan, the details of the contract for the project are now being finalised.
“The contract should be awarded in July to the group’s construction subsidiary, Jurutama Sdn Bhd.
“The time is right to start the project because the drop in fuel price will lower the construction cost, ” he said.
Tan added that the project, scheduled for completion within a four-year period, might take longer because of the new SOPs that needed to be adhered to in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Last December, IJM Perennial signed with OCBC Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd for a loan facility of over RM1bil to finance the project.
Initially, IJM Land had planned to start work on The Light City in 2018, but given the property market slowdown, the group held back the implementation of the project to revise the plan.
“We made revisions so that the project could be launched in two phases, according to the pace of market demand.
“The new plan can now accommodate more food and beverage outlets and possibly, an experiential themed park in phase two, ” Tan said.
In the revised plan, the first phase will have a mall with a 680,000-sq-ft net lettable area, the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre, a four-star hotel with 500 rooms, offices and the Mezzo residential condominiums.
The second phase will have a 300,000-sq-ft mall, a five-star hotel with 250 rooms, offices and the Essence residential condominiums.
“The work on the first phase should create some 1,000 jobs for the local construction industry.
“The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2024, ” Tan said.
Tan said the sales of the Mezzo condominiums and the occupancy of the mall would determine the commencement of the second phase.
“If the response to the condominium and the mall is good, we will start the second phase as soon as possible, ” said Tan.
“The retail mall and the hotel business would be well supported by the convention centre, which is expected to bring in the crowds.
“The meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition market will drive the demand for the convention centre space.
“Our location is well-centralised around the airport, free industrial zone, George Town city and the mainland. This is also an added advantage, ” he added.
IJM is one of Malaysia’s leading conglomerates with businesses in construction, property, plantations, industry and infrastructure. It has operations in 10 countries, with the primary focus on Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates, China and Indonesia.
Perennial is an integrated real estate and healthcare company headquartered and listed in Singapore.
As a real estate owner, developer and manager, Perennial focuses strategically on large-scale, mixed-use developments.
It has operations in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Ghana with a combined portfolio spanning over 65 million sq ft.
Bukit Bintang City Centre
(BBCC) is a visionary, state-of-the-art integrated development designed to
complement and enhance the city’s cosmopolitan vibe. Strategically situated on
a 19.4-acre site within the Golden Triangle, BBCC offers a complete cosmopolitan
lifestyle that encompasses modern residential suites, hotels, retail, an
entertainment hub and a transit hub. Green lungs are threaded through the
development to create a series of parks, gardens and green pockets.
BBCC is a cosmopolitan hub that is open to the world. It is
designed to welcome visitors from all corners of the globe. At the same time,
BBCC connects the city to the world via a transit hub that will house the
existing Hang Tuah monorail and LRT as well as providing linkage to the Merdeka
MRT station. The proposed High Speed Rail Station will be just two stops away
via the LRT.
