Everyone knows the tallest skyscraper in the world: it’s the Burj Khalifa, the super-high tower that soars over Dubai. At 828.8 metres high, it beat all the records to become the tallest building in the world, a record that is unlikely to be beaten any time soon. But not everyone has heard of the second tallest skyscraper in the world: it is actually still under construction, but has already overtaken the previous skyscraper to hold second place. Until a few months ago, in fact, the second-tallest skyscraper in the world was the Shanghai Tower, at a total height of 632 metres, but since the end of last year, the second place has been held by Merdeka 118, a skyscraper situated in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The total height of Merdeka 118 is 678.9 metres, not tall enough to pose a threat to the record-beating Burj Khalifa, but more than enough to push the Shanghai Tower into third place. Here are some facts about this ultra-tall, multi-faceted building.
Merdeka 118: the name of the second tallest skyscraper in the world
Merdeka 118 is known by several different names, but they all include the number 118. This number refers to the total number of floors in the tower, in fact. As we mentioned earlier, the tower is 678.9 metres high, with the floors accounting for 518 metres while the rest consists of the spectacular spire. Other names used to refer to the second tallest skyscraper in the world are the PNB 118 and KL 118: PNB are the initials of the Permodalan Nasional Berhad company, the building’s owners, while KL stands for Kuala Lumpur, the city that is home to the tower. Merdeka, on the other hand, means “Independence Day”, commemorating Malaysia’s independence (the building stands on the site of a former park with that name). Malaysia’s independence was proclaimed in 1957 in the Merdeka stadium, near the site of the tower.
What will Merdeka 118 contain?
Once completed, the 118 floors of Merdeka 118 will be home to a large number of different businesses. We’re talking about over 290,000 square metres of surface area, in fact. 83 floors will be reserved for offices, of which 60 will be occupied by the Permodalan Nasional Berhad company itself. 17 floors will be occupied by hotel and residential facilities. The tower will also house a commercial centre, a theatre and the highest observation point in south-east Asia. The 5 basement floors will be devoted to car parking, with spaces for a total of 8,500 cars.
The construction of Merdeka 118: timing and characteristics
Merdeka 118 was designed by local studio RSP Architects Sdn Bhd and by the Australian studio Fender Katsalidis, which is famous, among other things, for designing the Eureka Tower, the tallest building in Melbourne. The external appearance of KL 118 is inspired by traditional Malaysian arts and crafts. Indeed, what is most immediately striking to anyone passing by the building, apart from its height, is its sculpted facade, featuring glass surfaces set at different angles. The diamond-shaped form of the building is also said to be a reference to the outstretched hand gesture of Tunku Abdul Rahman as he declared the country’s independence. A total of 18,144 glass panels were used in constructing the building’s exterior, covering a total surface area of 114,000 square metres. At night, the building will be illuminated by 8.4 kilometres of LED lights.
The first challenge posed in the construction of the building was that of preserving the historic central district of Kuala Lumpur. That is why the work on Merdeka 118 began with the construction of a large, circular cofferdam wall, designed to contain the excavations. More specifically, the wall features an air space separating two distinct watertight sections; this structure made it possible to keep changes to the surrounding area to a minimum. Another distinctive feature was the use of a high-performance, extremely fluid concrete to facilitate pumping the concrete up to the highest floors of the building. This type of concrete is also designed to create an elastic structure that can withstand strong lateral gusts of wind, so that the amount of structural steel required could be significantly reduced.
The completion date for the second tallest skyscraper in the world
Construction work on Merdeka 118 began in November 2016 but was interrupted on 18 March 2020 as a result of the restrictions introduced in Malaysia to contain Covid-19. Work on the building restarted in May 2020 and by August of that year the building had reached 118 floors, sufficient for it to overtake the Vincom Landmark 81to become the tallest building in south-east Asia, as well as surpassing the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur (until then, the famous Petronas Twin Towers, at 453 metres high). Increasing the height of the building even further is the long, slender spire, which alone measures 158 metres. We should add that KL 118 is not simply the tallest tower in Malaysia, however: it is also the first building to have been awarded 3 internationally-recognised sustainability certificates, including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award.
On 9 January 2023, Merdeka 118 was declared to be 95% complete: so the inauguration of the second tallest building in the world is now imminent.
