Pics: Inside Petronas Towers!

It turned out to be an awesome experience, says Bienu Vaghela who visited Kuala Lumpur last November!

Text and photographs: Bienu Vaghela

My joy knew no bounds when I saw Petronas Towers from my hotel room window at The Renaissance. I was overwhelmed by their presence. It was my long standing dream to visit the Petronas Towers! It had come true on the morning of November 13 when I landed in Kuala Lumpur. The Twin Towers are so fascinating and formidable, indeed a masterpiece of modern architecture, colouring the skyline of Kuala Lumpur.

I captured it at various times: right from 11 am to 11 pm.

My camera was in the right form and surprisingly cooperated even around mid-night.

Shorty that I am, I was sceptical if I would be able to do justice while shooting the splendid towers, but yes… see it to believe it.

Excitedly, I reached the Petronas Towers on the afternoon of November 15 to see it from inside.

After buying tickets, priced at 80 Malaysian Ringgits, we had to wait for some time till it opened at 2 pm and moved towards the lift, guarded by women commandos. I must say security was very tight.

Till 9/11 happened in New York, going atop these towers was free. But after that security had been beefed up and tickets introduced. The first few floors of the Petronas Towers house Suriya Mall which sell top brands and has a very interesting circular layout.

Interiors on the ground floor, ceiling, etc also caught my fancy as the child within me began to show up. The elevator zoomed to the 42nd floor in no time, quite big that it was (housed nearly 15 people) and there we were watching the Kuala Lumpur skyline.

After spending around 15 minutes and clicking few pictures, we moved to the 88th floor, and what a sight it was!

It looked like we were amid clouds as it became quite cloudy by then. Still we could watch Kuala Lumpur from that altitude; it was the most fascinating sight I had ever witnessed.

Both the Petronas Towers are identical: they are an eight-lobed circular structure that contains 88 storeys of space that can be occupied and a pyramid-shaped pinnacle surmounted by a slender steel spire.

Both the towers rise to a height of 1,483 feet (451.9 metres), which includes 242 feet (73.6 metres) for pinnacle and the spire. Each building is supported by 16 large columns around its perimeter, which, along with the rest of the frame, are made of high-strength, steel-reinforced concrete rather than of structural steel; the exterior sheathing consists of stainless steel and glass.

A sky bridge, two storeys tall, links the two towers between the 41st and 42nd storeys.

The Twin Towers, built to house the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia, were designed by Argentine-born American architect Cesar Pelli; they were completed in 1998. The designer chose a distinctive post-modern style to create this 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur.

Planning on the Petronas Towers started on January 1, 1992 and included rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Seven years of construction followed, beginning March 1, 1993 with the excavation, which involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down 30 metres (98 ft) below the surface.

The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's dominant religion.

Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (two overlapping squares), albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements.

If you plan to visit Malaysia, you can visit Malaysia Tourism’s website for all updates and can connect with their office for organising your trip and get value for your money.