4G9 Tower (abbreviation for Precinct 4, Government Building, Parcel 9) designed for The Ministry of Information, Malaysia, is located on a strip of crescent shaped development site facing the Dataran Gemilang, a circular landscaped open space situated at the southernmost tip of the Core Island, Putrajaya. In the urban context, this 39 storey office building is part of a group of 4 towers earmarked to become the tallest structures to be built within the Core Island development.
In November 2003 a competition was organized by Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd in which 10 Malaysian architectural firms were invited to participate. 3 firms obtained the commission for lots 4G9, 4G10 and 4G11; Jafri Merican Architect, Aqidea Architects and Hijjas Kasturi and Associates Sdn, respectively. The commission for Lot 4G8 was awarded to Juhari & Hashim Chartered Architects based on an earlier competition. Lot 4G9 was tendered as a design and build contract and was awarded to WCT Berhad. Completion date is targeted in late 2010.
The visual metaphor for the tower is based on traditional malay artifacts and crafts, the curved side elevations recalling the shapes of ancient stone artifacts, and the diagonal shaped central façade pattern symbolizing a traditional form of textile craft, the ’songket’.
In order to translate these metaphors into buildable forms of specific measurable dimensions, a concept based on the Fibonacci Series is conceived as a form-giver to be used for shaping the tower. The series is a mathematical progression of numbers where the following number is the sum of two previous numbers; 1,1,2,3,5,8,13…. From this concept, a series of segmented façade surfaces is formed beginning from the roof, 1 storey, 1 storey, 2 storey, 3 and so forth to 13 storey for the lowest façade surface. These surfaces, formed of diagonal elements are then set in at different planes, and detailed by façade engineering consultants based on the unitized curtain wall concept. The sides of the tower, designed of precast RC fins with punctuated windows, serve as a counterpoint to the visually lighter Fibonacci façade.
The 4G9 tower building enclosure utilizes passive solar shading devices to achieve an Overall Thermal Transmission Value of lower than 45 w/m2.
The photos at the top of this post show progress as at 20th May 2010.
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