KOMTAR

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name=KOMTAR


built=1986
use=Office, Leisure
location=Penang, Malaysia
roof= 232 m, 760 ft
floor_count=65|

KOMTAR (Malay: "Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak"), or more accurately KOMTAR Tower (Menara KOMTAR in Malay) is Penang's tallest building and the sixth tallest building in Malaysia. It is located in the heart of George Town. When the skyscraper topped out it was the tallest building in Asia, by the time construction was completed it had however been surpassed by Seoul's Korean Life Insurance Building (KLI 63 Building). The 65-storey tower is a 12-sided geometric block, 760ft (232m) tall, sitting atop a 4-storey podium. The complex comprises office and retail commercial space as well as public and recreational facilities. It was designed by Architects Team 3 (AT3) of Singapore. [ [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=13204 Archnet.org] ]

KOMTAR occupies an 11-hectare site and is the single most ambitious urban renewal project undertaken by Penang Development Corporation, the development arm of the Penang state government. The master plan is divided into five phases for implementation. The complex is named in honour of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein. The first piling of the building's phase one was done by Tun Razak himself on 1 January 1974. Part of the complex's first phase podium block was completed in 1978.

Today, the five phases of development are still in various stages of completion:

*"Phase 1" (completed 1986)
**65-storey KOMTAR Tower office block, which primarily houses the Penang state's government offices, is completed with a helipad on its mechanical roof.
**Geodesic dome named Dewan Tunku, which functions as a multi-purpose hall.
**17-storey international hotel.
**Part of a 4-storey shopping podium.
**Public buses interchange.

*"Phase 2A" (completed 1986)
**Remainder of the 4-storey shopping podium comprising department stores, shoplots, squash courts, banking hall, restaurants and food court.
**11-storey car park.

*"Phase 2B"
**Parcel of land sold to a local retail chain for development of retail commercial.
**Construction began around the same time as Phase 4 Prangin Mall (see below) in 1997. However, project has since been put on hold following soil subsidence affecting surrounding areas. Prangin Mall development was later identified to be the most probable cause of the subsidence.

*"Phase 3"
**Parcel of land sold to a local conglomerate for development of retail commercial.

*"Phase 4" (completed 2000)
**Prangin Mall is linked to Phase 1 and Phase 2A by two enclosed steel-glass pedestrian bridges.
**Mall comprises department store, retail commercial shoplots, banking hall, restaurants and multi-screen cineplex.

*"Phase 5"
**Earmarked for commercial use but revised in 2002 to include a transportation hub.

Fire

In January 1983, a fire broke out at the 43rd floor of the building and destroyed the floors above it. Firemen were unable to put out the flames as it was too high up. The flames eventually burnt out after approximately eight hours. The building was still under construction at that time and it was the worst highrise fire in the country after the Campbell Shopping Complex and the Bank Bumiputra fires which both took place in Kuala Lumpur.

KOMTAR Complex

Near the tower is KOMTAR Complex, Penang's oldest shopping mall, opened in 1989. KOMTAR Complex initially had an anchor tenant in the Parkson departmental store, but that closed in 2005. The Penang Government plans to modernise the complex; work is scheduled to start in December 2007 and to be completed after one year.

Other KOMTAR

Another building bearing the same name was built in Johor Bahru, comprising a 25-storey office tower block and a double-storey shopping complex.

References